Reykjavik: Long considered the "most peaceful country in the world", Iceland’s tranquillity has been shattered by a spate of shootings and stabbings involving criminal gangs. The country of only 375,000 people is more accustomed to reading about murders in its famed Icelandic noir novels than in its morning newspapers. "A gun for Icelanders symbolises sports" or hunting, said sociologist Helgi Gunnlaugsson.