A school shooting that actually changed a nation

4 min readNov 5, 2023

Back in early May, a school shooting took place in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. On that day, 13-year-old Kosta Kecmanovic entered Vladislav Ribnikar primary school armed with two handguns that belonged to his father. He shot and killed a security guard who tried to apprehend the teen. Then, Kecmanovic shot a teacher before firing indiscriminately at students. Eight students died at the scene, with seven being girls and one boy. An additional six students were severely wounded. Less than two weeks after the shooting, a gravely wounded girl died at the hospital, bringing the death toll to ten. According to police, the shooting was planned for at least a month, and Kecmanovic was said to have a hit list of certain students he intended to kill. So far, no motive has been given for the killings.

In a nation awash with guns leftover from the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s, this was Serbia’s first school shooting.

As mentioned, the guns used in the shooting legally belonged to his father, who stored them in a gun safe with a digital lock. The father claimed he did not give the combination to his son. However, the father has been arrested for a serious offense against general security for failing to secure his guns properly. He denies any wrongdoing. The father was also said to be an avid shooter, often taking his son to a gun range.

Serbia is a country with a population of close to 7 million. Of that 7 million, only 400,000 people are legally registered gun owners. Yet, when illegal guns are factored in, Serbia has 39.1 firearms per every 100 people. That’s the third-highest rate of gun ownership in the world. Naturally, the US has the highest rate, with 120.5 guns for every 100 people. We sure do love building home arsenals to protect ourselves against imaginary threats. But, I digress.

In the immediate wake of the school shooting, the Serbian government started talking about gun reform, such as a review of firearms licenses. The Interior Ministry appealed to gun owners to keep their guns more secure and out of the reach of children. Going forward, police could perform spot checks to make sure guns were being stored properly. They also announced a moratorium on new gun licenses and a review of existing permits.

Then the unthinkable happened.

A day after the school shooting, another mass shooting happened in Serbia. Eight more people were killed and 13 more wounded in a mass shooting near the town of Mladenovac, which is 30 miles from Belgrade.

After this shooting, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic promised an almost complete disarming of Serbia. This included a gun amnesty program where Serbians could turn in their weapons with no questions asked. However, Vucic also called for harsher penalties for the illegal production, possession, carrying of and trade in weapons.

In the midst of all of this, Serbia’s Education Minister resigned from his post because of the shooting.

When the gun amnesty was first announced, 3000 guns were turned over in just two days. Then after a week, 13,500 weapons were surrendered. Besides guns, this included hand grenades, and anti-tank rocket launchers. Half of the weapons surrendered were owned illegally. Then, a little over a week after the shooting, 23,000 weapons had been surrendered.

That’s not to say Serbia’s response to the shootings has been perfect. Protest broke out after the shootings, demanding the resignations of the country’s interior minister and intelligence chief. Many have even called for the resignation of President Vucic himself. However, Vucic’s regime blamed the protests on “the work of foreign intelligence services”, completely ignoring that Serbia’s government celebrates war criminals as heroes. Their words, not mine.

Look, I get it. Serbia isn’t exactly the model of open democracy. Some may even consider it an authoritarian regime. But could you imagine what could have been accomplished if our government and citizens put in as much effort toward gun reform as Serbia has? Imagine the US Secretary of Education resigning in the aftermath of Columbine. What about a nationwide gun amnesty program after Virginia Tech? What if people protested across the country demanding the resignation of Donald Trump because of the Parkland shootings?

It took Serbia their first school shooting to do something about their country’s gun problem. We’ve had close to 400 school shootings and our gun problems keep getting worse. And we’re supposed to be the more ‘civilized’ country.

To paraphrase a famous saying, the best time to reform gun laws was 25 years ago, the second-best time is now. Before you know it, the victims of past school shootings will have kids who become the victims of school shootings. This is not the legacy we should be leaving.

(Sources)

A school shooting that actually changed a nation

Written by Trench Reynolds

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