A recently published study by Swiss researchers Mireille Widmer and Irene Pavesi from the Center of Security Studies on firearms and violent deaths worldwide during the last decade reveals that while non-firearm violent deaths in Albania are in decline, firearm violent deaths are on the rise, having the second-highest firearm homicide rate, with only the Russian Federation reporting higher rates.
The Albanian data of the study are lacking after 2011, and official government reports no longer separate homicides into firearm and non-firearm related. However, the 2015 report of the General Prosecutor on the crime situation in the country reports a total of 217 convicted perpetrators of homicides. Assuming the trends established by Widmer and Pavesi, the firearm homicide rate per 100,000 population still ought to hover around a rate of about 3.0, being the still the highest in Europe.
An article from January 2016 by Politico journalist Jack Davies provides a more in-depth look into the origins of the high firearms-related violence numbers, citing, among others, the case of PS MP Armando Prenga, who, in spite of firearm related violence, has not been officially prosecuted and has remained a member of the Albanian parliament.
