Weapons, by definition firearms, belong to men's things, somehow by definition, by themselves. It's not that some women aren't skilled with weapons (do I need to mention Jasna Šekarić?), but purely statistically, these are men's jobs.
First of all, you should know that this region is thoroughly polluted with firearms after several wars and the famous capitulations of several large armies, from 1912 to 1999. Modern firearms, let's say from 1900 onwards, are mostly of high quality and - with moderate use and good maintenance - will last literally forever. Cautious and distrustful Balkans always kept and hid weapons "for God forbid"; they were usually right.
All this, in short, means that the number of pipes (longer and shorter) mostly illegally owned by citizens is large; no one dares to honestly estimate the ratio of registered to illegal guns, but count on at least 5:1 in favor of illegal. These weapons are carried around the house and are almost exclusively the concern of men.
Weapons kill impartially.
Well, now: despite all our "heroic and warrior traditions", the culture of safe handling and proper maintenance and storage of firearms here is at a miserable level. That is why we are dealing with it now.
As the author of three books and about a hundred articles on the subject (so practically a classic), for years I collected newspaper news about accidental incidents (negligence, when you accidentally hit another person; and shooting, when you hit yourself), all with an intention - which I did not give up! - to publish a short and clear brochure on the safe handling of firearms and their proper maintenance. I was already in some initial negotiations with the then SSUP, but that federal state messed around, and the new ones were not interested in that (nor would I have worked with them).
But, therefore: firearms are primarily used to kill people, and they are unsurpassed there. Even the car is not his equal. On that sentence in one of my books, in the chapter on security, one reviewer, an engineer by the way, had a remark: that he would not have insisted on that killing, so that the young policemen and soldiers would not be shaken; the objection was dismissed.
The various pistols and rifles that are carried around so many households are therefore a serious danger in unskilled hands. Firearms are effective and impartial: they kill anyone they shoot at, the boss, the child, the relative, the friend and the innocent bystander. And it will explode if it is not looked after carefully and conscientiously and if it is handled carelessly.
Rest assured, the kids will find it
First, guns are kept locked and unloaded in the house; unfolded if possible; ammunition should be kept separately locked. Hunters, due to constant handling, learn these rules quickly - if they learn them, that is, we are not sure. Officials who carry weapons for longer by the nature of their work are somewhat more skilled in the basics of safe handling and storage, although their training, tactics and doctrine also have dangerous flaws, but that's another story. Their problem is that when they need a gun, they need it immediately, but that's another story.
Children are the main problem; an ax is enough for a jealous or abused woman. Don't fall into the delusion that you can hide weapons from children: you can't hide anything from them, especially not among bedclothes and underpants, which is the usual hiding place of a naive Balkan man. An NYPD lieutenant with whom I discussed the problem told me that he weaned his kid by taking him to the police shooting range and letting him fire a few rounds from his service revolver .38 Special; he says that the kid was so frightened by the jolt and noise that he was no longer interested. It is important, he says, to demystify the matter and explain the nature of weapons to children. Maybe.
I honestly hate guns.
The bigger problem is the adults, since they are inaccessible to reason and explanation. Everyone knows everything, so in my aforementioned collection of unfortunate cases I have examples that you wouldn't believe, but I won't bother you with that now; all candidates for that Darwin Award, if only they didn't kill and injure innocent people.
It should be borne in mind that many pieces of weapons in the civilian population are of trophy origin, therefore often unreliable, poorly or not at all maintained and not checked by experts. And only trophy ammunition: different charges, at the end of the war even with corrosive capsules, notoriously unreliable. These are things that a conscientious man, if he already keeps a weapon in the house - which I do not advise! - he must think.
And just carrying a weapon! Ask Žarko Laušević, after all: if he didn't have a gun, he and his brother would have been beaten and beaten. And just the shenlucing at weddings and other occasions: every now and then someone gets hurt.
I am occasionally told that I "love guns", which infuriates me. No, I don't love him; I know him, and that's another thing. Weapons, like some other things, belong to those phenomena that the better you know, the less you like them. I honestly hate weapons. Who else defended themselves with a gun? Do you remember those murders from the bloody nineties? Almost every artist had a weapon on him, and a good part of the more important ones also had bodyguards. So what happened? Graveyards full of armed men.
It is best to stay away from weapons or know them very well, which requires some effort, but not that much.
It's best not to have one.
"Time" number 1135, October 04, 2012.
Read daily news, analysis, commentary and interviews at www.vreme.com
