One day after a massacre at a Belgrade school with nine dead, the Serbian government on Thursday suspended the issue of new gun licences for two years and agreed to more stringent inspections of gun owners.
The Interior Ministry said the tougher inspections will take place over the next three months to check that firearms and ammunition are being kept in accordance with regulations, the cabinet decided at its Thursday meeting, according to the Beta news agency.
On Wednesday, a 13-year-old student shot dead eight classmates and a security guard at his school. Six other students and a teacher were injured.
The police subsequently arrested the boy and took him to a psychiatric clinic. At 13, he cannot be held legally liable in Serbia and will therefore not face a trial.
The boy used weapons and ammunition that belong to his father, who has a gun licence. The police nevertheless arrested the father, accusing him of not storing the weapons in accordance with the law. In addition, he allegedly practised shooting with his underage son at shooting ranges.
The boy's motive remains unclear, though apparently, he had been planning the attack for some time. Police found sketches of the school building and lists of names of potential victims in his flat.
In his first interrogation by the police, the boy said he was a "psychopath" and had to "cool down," the director of the Belgrade police department, Veselin Milić, said on Wednesday on state television RTS.
