Serbia announces new strict gun control after 2 mass shootings

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Friday announced amendments to the law on weapons and ammunition controls and increased police presence around schools in the wake of two mass shootings this week.

Vucic's announcement came after the country was hit by a second mass shooting in less than 48 hours after a school attack in the capital Belgrade.

He called the late Thursday shooting, which killed at least eight people, "a terrorist attack," and said the attacker "will never see daylight again."

Serbian police, after several hours of manhunt, arrested a suspected shooter who overnight randomly fired from a car with an automatic rifle, killing eight people and injuring 14 others, the Interior Ministry said on Friday.

“Serbia will employ 1,200 new police officers and 1,000 of them will be in charge of schools in the next six months ... All people who have weapons, which is about 400,000 people, will undergo an audit,” said Vucic.

“This is an attack on our country,” the president added.

New police forces around schools will reduce violence by %80 in less than a year, according to Vucic.

Vucic said that the government will issue a statement instructing the Interior Ministry to prepare urgent amendments to the law on weapons to tighten the conditions for keeping short firearms.

“We will carry out the almost complete disarmament of Serbia, and the penalties for illegal possession of weapons will be large, we will almost double them.

“Six-monthly and annual checks will be made along with psychiatric and psychological examinations, and a test for psychoactive substances will be mandatory,” the president said.

At least eight people were killed and 14 others were injured when the 21-year-old Uros Blazic, the suspected shooter opened fire late Thursday in Mladenovac town, 42 kilometers (26 miles) south of Belgrade.

Women and children are among the dead and injured, with seven in critical condition, local media reported.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry has requested blood donations for the injured.

The latest incident occurred just one day after a school shooting.

On Wednesday, a teenage boy opened fire on a school in Belgrade, killing eight students and a security guard.

Another six students and a woman teacher were injured in the incident, which took place at Vladislav Ribnikar Primary School around 8.40 a.m. local time (0640GMT), according to the Interior Ministry.

The 14-year-old suspect, identified only by his initials, K.K., was arrested.