Hundreds of thousands of Poles are taking up arms, with the number of gun permits reaching a historic high. Since the fall of communism and the birth of the Republic of Poland, never before have so many Poles armed themselves so quickly.

Last year, 45,800 gun licenses were issued in Poland, which is a record since the regime change in 1989, according to police data. In previous years, the figures show that Poles typically applied for 10 thousand permits per year, but in 2022, this number surged to 37,400, marking a dramatic increase. This happens to be the same year that Russia invaded Ukraine. The following year, in 2023, the number of permits rose to 40,900. By 2024, the number of private individuals possessing firearms in Poland reached 930,100, which was double the 2017 figure, according to the Polish newspaper RP.

„Society feels insecure today, which is why people want to stockpile weapons. The driving force is the war in Ukraine, but concerns about personal and property security also play a role,”

said criminologist professor Brunon Holyst. However, security policy expert Jerzy Dziewulski stated that the entire trend cannot be explained solely by the war in Ukraine, as gun ownership has been gaining popularity since 2011 due to regulatory easing.

„Owning a gun boosts every person’s ego, especially if my buddy has a gun and I don’t,”

he said. Most Poles acquire firearms as collectors or through hunting. „To obtain a firearm for collection purposes, one must prove a legitimate reason, such as membership in a collectors’ association, and meet general requirements such as a clean criminal record, mental health stability, and the appropriate age. Additionally, a police exam must be passed, which can be replaced by a permit issued by the Polish Sports Shooting Association,” said lawyer Andrzej Turczyn.

„For the average Pole, this is the easiest way to obtain a gun permit. More importantly, it is also the simplest way to keep it,”

he added. Despite the increasing number of firearms purchased in the country, Andrzej Turczyn pointed out that this has not led to a surge in firearm-related crimes, even though the rate of gun ownership has dramatically risen. Despite the growing number of gun owners, Poland still has fewer firearms per capita than many other European countries. According to Turczyn, Poles remain „one of the least armed nations in Europe.”

In other European countries, such as Sweden, a significant increase in gun-related crimes has been observed, which has risen in parallel with the growing foreign population. These statistics raise questions regarding Poland’s increasingly liberal immigration policy. With the rising number of immigrants in Poland, gun-related crimes may also increase; however, this rise is not linked to legal firearm permit holders but rather to foreigners, many of whom engage in illegal firearm trafficking.