Above: People gather at the Vladislav Ribnikar school in Belgrade to mark the one-year anniversary of a deadly school shooting on May 3, 2024.Image credit: Oliver Bunic/AFP/Getty Images
The Spin
Despite the high levels of gun ownership in Serbia, mass shootings are extremely rare and this incident shocked the Balkan nation. There were large demonstrations calling for gun reform after this happened.
While many European countries have similar laws about the age of legal responsibility, it is clear they are not fit for use. As in this case, a 13-year-old boy is mature enough to plan a heinous attack but is considered too young to be held responsible. If the age of culpability was lower, he might have been deterred from carrying out the attack.