Montenegrin Government to adopt new weapons law, rigorous permit controls to follow

The Montenegrin Government will adopt a new weapons law, under which all who wish to possess weapons will have to undergo rigorous controls before obtaining a permit. All who already have a permit will have to renew them by January 1, 2026, with prior psychological and security checks. If they fail these checks, their permits will be revoked, and their weapons confiscated, announced the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Milojko Spajić.

He said this after a session of the National Security Council, which was convened following the horrific crime in Cetinje, in which 12 people, including two children, were killed on January 1. Four people were seriously injured.

The suspect in the horrific crime in Cetinje, Aco Martinović (45), succumbed to his injuries on the same night after shooting himself in the head, surrounded by police who had been searching for him for several hours.

The situation with illegal weapons, Spajić said, is "even worse".

"The campaign 'Respect life, return weapons' has already yielded results. It will last for two months. If people return illegal weapons within this period, they will face no legal consequences. But, whoever does not return them after this period will be drastically punished," announced Spajić.

He explained that after this period, the new Law on Weapons will come into force, and any carrying or possession of weapons will be punished with the harshest penalties.

"There will be no mercy for these people," Spajić emphasized. He claims that the law will be explicit and will not leave room for pressure on judges, but will stipulate drastic minimum sentences.

He said that hunting associations will also have to renew their permits by January 1, 2026.

"As for sports and hunting associations, of which there are too many, and which are often used for acquiring illegal weapons and recruiting for organized criminal groups... I personally believe they should be banned and that the state should be the only entity organizing such associations," Spajić stated.

Aco Martinović (45) from Cetinje, who killed 12 people and injured four in that city, was conditionally sentenced for violent behavior back in 2005. The police had previously noticed antisocial behavior from him and requested a psychiatric examination. Martinović was prescribed therapy at the Health Center at that time, but was not referred to a specialized healthcare institution.

Speaking about the profile of the mass murderer, the acting director of the Police Administration (UP), Lazar Šćepanović, said earlier that Aco Martinović was born in 1979 in Cetinje. He worked in car repair, specifically painting. He was unmarried, childless, and lived alone.

Šćepanović also stated that the killer, according to official data from the Police Administration, was not considered a person of operational interest.

During 2022, UP officers had operational knowledge that Martinović illegally possessed firearms.

The police, according to Šćepanović, searched Martinović's family home on November 28, 2022, and found two air rifles, 43 rounds of ammunition of various calibers, one larger improvised explosive device of great destructive power, and a firearm cleaning kit.

"For this criminal offense, the killer was sentenced in the first instance to a prison term of three months, which verdict did not become final," Šćepanović said, among other things.

The police, he said, recognized the antisocial behavior of this individual after the search and interview, and therefore initiated a request to the Cetinje Health Center for a psychiatric examination, in accordance with the Law on the Protection and Realization of the Rights of Mentally Ill Persons.

"This person was taken to the Ministry of Health immediately after the search, where, according to the information received, the person was prescribed therapy at the Health Center and was not referred to a specialized healthcare institution at that time," stated the head of the Montenegrin police.