Polish justice minister explains why he was carrying gun during official duties

Poland’s justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, has issued an explanation after being pictured carrying a gun in his belt during a press conference and official ceremony – a highly unusual event in a country with relatively low gun ownership and almost no culture of civilians being armed in public.

The incident occurred when Ziobro, a hardline figure in Poland’s national-conservative government, was laying flowers at a memorial commemorating victims of mining accidents in Belchatów. As the wind lifted his suit jacket, it revealed a gun under the minister’s belt.

Images from the event quickly drew media coverage and online commentary. Some speculated as to whether the gun was real, while others asked whether carrying it was legal.

Poland has a relatively low level of gun ownership, with 2.5 civilian firearms per 100 persons, placing it 166th out of 230 countries in the 2017 global Small Arms Survey (and lowest among all European states apart from the Vatican).

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, Polish shooting ranges have reported a surge in interest. However, a poll in August found that only 23% of Poles favour loosening the country’s relatively strict gun laws while 35% want them to be tightened even further.

Soon after the images of Ziobro emerged, the minister issued a statement to the Super Express newspaper in which he confirmed that the gun was authentic and that he was carrying it legally.

“For several years, for sport and recreation, I have been shooting at a gun range on weekends,” he said. “That’s why, when I was returning to Warsaw after the weekend, I had [the gun] with me. In Belchatów, I stopped on my way to the capital. According to the regulations, I could not leave [the gun] in the car.”

“I recommend shooting, it is good for relaxation and, moreover, this sport teaches responsibility,” added Ziobro, who also confirmed that he had been carrying the weapon while speaking at a press conference just before laying the flowers.

However, a leading opposition figure, former defence minister Tomasz Siemoniak, criticised Ziobro. Whether he was carrying the gun “due to his fear of citizens or (as he explains) he usually transports it in his trousers between shooting ranges, it makes a laughing stock of this already rather grotesque government”, tweeted Siemoniak.

Main image credit: TVN (screenshot)

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.