Gun Ownership High Among Balkan Civilians: Report

Photo: EPA/DEAN LEWINS

The Small Arms Survey, published on Monday, listed Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Kosovo among the top 25 countries when it comes to the estimated rate of civilian firearms possession per 100 people.

Montenegro and Serbia shared third place, after the United States and Yemen, the report said.

Bosnia was in 10th place and Macedonia in 12th. Kosovo was ranked 17th.

While in Montenegro and Serbia the rate is around 39 firearms per 100 people, in Bosnia around 31, in Macedonia 30 and in Kosovo around 24, the survey estimated.

The Small Arms Survey is a Geneva-based organisation which attempts to collect "evidence-based, impartial, and policy-relevant knowledge on all aspects of small arms and armed violence", according to its website.

Its report said that at the end of 2017, there were approximately 857 million civilian-held firearms in the world's 230 countries and territories.

Montenegro, with a population 626,000 people in 2017, had an estimated 245,000 firearms in civilian possession.

In Serbia, with 6,946,000 people in 2017, the estimated number of firearms in civilian possession was 2,719,000.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a 2017 population of 3,793,000, the estimated number of firearms in civilian possession was 1,185,000.

In Macedonia, with 2,083,000 people in 2017, the estimated number of firearms in civilian possession was 621,000.

In Kosovo, with a population of 1,831,000, the estimated number of firearms owned by civilians was 436,000.

"The firearms reviewed in this Briefing Paper range from improvised craft weapons to factory-made handguns, rifles, shotguns, and in some countries even machine guns," the report said.

"Numbers provided here include...

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