Weapons laws in Poland. Carrying a concealed handgun?

I apologize if I post redundant information - I don't have time to browse through previous pages. You may find my own experience useful.

1. As for a handgun - technically, if you have a permit in Poland, the law does not distinguish between concealed or not. The social expectation would be that you actually carry concealed.

Getting the permit, however, is next to impossible. Poland's laws are extremely prohibitive, compared to the rest of Europe. You need to provide a compelling reason (e.g. receiving threats).

2. There is a loophole with respect to long guns though. If you have a hunting license in the U.S., you can apply for a membership in the Polski Związek £owiecki, without the normally required 1 year training period - foreign hunter licenses, per PZ£ regulations, waive this requirement. You just need to take a hunter education class (a few months), pass an exam, and you will be free to bring your long guns to Poland. This is costly, compared to hunting in the U.S., but at least doable.

3. The process is NOT friendly, in any case. Actually, a couple of years ago I tried to return to Poland after some 8 years in the U.S. All the problems with bringing my guns to Poland constituted about 30% of the reasons why I gave up and moved back to the U.S.

That's the point. If you're carrying a gun and it isn't loaded, all you can do is aim. Sounds a bit pointless.


Personally I do neither.


Carrying weapons in Poland is not usual. Imagine being invited to someone's home and they find out you have a gun.

paranoid much?

Not really. Loading a semi-automatic pistol takes all about one second.

Of course one could speak about the deterrent of having a firearm pointed at you be, regardless if it's loaded or unloaded.


The whole point of CCW is just that, not letting anyone know you are carrying. Now, if you're expounding that you may face problems from letting it be known that you carry a firearm, well, that speaks more about the other person than yourself, does it not?

Not that there's any need to carry a gun in Poland, nor would anybody but an nutter do so. Imagine if you were a guest somewhere and your host (or their kids) found it in your coat pocket. It just isn't European and certainly not Polish.

Are you mentally deficient or simply stupid?? Are you seriously suggesting that there is a correlation between legal gun ownership in Poland and the rate of foreign incursion?? Do you actually have ANY idea of the history of Poland as a country??? If not I suggest you take you fked up opinions elsewhere

Yes, you yanks are,thats why you carry guns........bunch of pussies.

There's no need to carry a gun in the US. I never did and I spent 12 years in the Marines, so I know my way around weapons. Very few Americans carry, and although there are a lot of gun related deaths in the US, almost all are in inner cities and are drug and/or gang related.

There's nothing even remotely related to gangs and street crime, say in Washington DC, New York or Los Angeles for example, in Poland. Why would anyone want to carry one on the street? Paranoia or insanity. There are no other reasons that I can think of.

crime is much less straight-in-your-face in Poland (like gun-armed street gangs) and there are circles which if you mess with them or just simply happen to be in their way (like in their way to take over your business) will not restrain from using kidnapping or murder as a means to their goal - some very influential people in Poland died strange death like Ireneusz Sekuła (former head of Duties Office) who shot himself in his belly 3 times.

Why do market stalls in Poland sell CS or CS-like sprays, and batons etc? Why do some specialist shops sell stun guns and CS or "OC spray" (not sure what OC is) to anyone with an ID proving age?

Is it legal to carry these items in Poland? You can walk down the road with a stun gun (paralizator) or pepper spray in your bag or pocket?

In the UK, a person would I am pretty sure be arrested at the port of arrival if found to be carrying any of the above (assuming OC is CS or a pepper spray)

Just a bump in case anyone can clarify -

stun gun (not Taser) - legal to carry in Poland by Joe Publicski?

CS - ditto?

baton - ditto?

Quite legal. It's not that popular to carry, though.

Not sure about stun guns and batons, however...

In the UK you can only carry that marker spray that puts some colour on the cheeks of an attacker, but is non toxic etc. Am very surprised a person could legally carry CS here in Poland, The CS or OC in one shop (not sure exactly what that is) actually carries some Policja word on it.

What about nun-chucks [spelling?]. You could be going to a fight class where you learn to use them?

Surprises me too, especially when you consider that it's legally a firearm in the UK.

If the police find a baseball bat in your car, you'd better have a ball and a mitt with it and be on your way to play in a game.

However, a six D-cell Maglite is perfectly legal.

That's absolutely correct.

Pepper spray and CS gas or CS spray are not the same thing.


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepper_spray#Europe


Stun guns???

I was kind of surprised to read about Poland having such strict gun control, especially since the Russian and Nazi invasions. If Poland had been an armed country, invaders would think twice before crossing the border. Just look at Switzerland. They aren't neutral because they say they are. Every male is required to have a rifle in the house and all the bridges are pre-wired with explosives (if there is an invasion, the bridge can be blown up and thereby slowing down the invader long enough for the citizens and army to respond). Nobody bothers Switzerland.

American fought hard against an oppressive British rule, so the American philosophy is that the citizens should be armed at least as well at the government so that the people can defend themselves from a tyrannical government, if the need should arise again.

If you think armed citizens could match the US armed forces, you are as deluded as those lttle groups of survivalists you have.

They wouldn't have thought twice and in any case there was no shortage of guns in PL back in those days.


Actually, they are. Topography has a lot to do with it too.


Actually the Founding Fathers were British themselves, radical and progressive Liberals who didn't like a Conservative form of government.


Good luck with that.

Let drop it! Polish people are still too childish to take over such responsibilities, they prefer being pussies of their politics and administration :-S.


Gun laws in the Second Polish Republic were already very strict compared to other European nations (including Germany). It was never as easy as even today in Switzerland or USA to legally obtain a gun.


Actually, 2/3 of the country is rather plain, and great majority of industrial and population areas are in this zone.


What? Switzerland and USA had never had a tyrannic government, nor they were invaded.

The best answer yet. Thank you for clearing up these pansies' answers to a simple question.

Merged: Legality and availability of tasers in Poland

Is it legal to have a handheld taser in Poland ? and if yes, where can I buy one ?

Unless the law has changed, the laws relating to taser ownership are fairly liberal. You can probably buy them online and should check with the vendor who should be able to supply you with a reference to the elegant passage in the legal code.

But...

Who would you use it against?

And why?

Czech Republic allows open and conceal carry with a gun permit. They allow any guns and there are no pistol free zones except government buildings. You can even carry in a bar. The only weapon that is hard to obtain is a full auto. But otherwise the Czech Republic is in my opinion more lenient on firearms than the US

I don't hear about responsible gun permit holders shooting each other.
Amazing when bullets are flying at you and you let a few go flying back the violence stops.
Remember back in 1997 when England outlawed handguns and the murder rate shot up 45% for the next eight years.
Kind of proves the point that unarmed citizens are more likely to die from gunshots then someone who is armed.
Now with Polish citizens starting to die from terrorists it might be high time that the Polish citizens are allowed to carry a concealed handgun with a permit to be able to defend themselves if necessary.

Are you nuts? handguns had to be kept at home in a hidden gunsafe. They were never used for self defence, purely for sport. Criminals do NOT commit crime with guns. The murder rate is driven by the usual domestic issues and teenage gangs stabbing each other over nothing.

Its impossible to make the claim that a gun is required for self defense in the UK, there is no threat that would justify it. If anyone in the UK truely beleives that their life is in danger from armed criminals they would be sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

@johnny reb
We dont need guns. We are trully free. American Freedom is living in fear that everybody has a gun and is potential threat to others. We dont need "American Freedom" in Poland. We dont need to watch our backs every minute we are outside.

No Thanx!!!

Who is 'we'? You and your fleas? Has anyone elected u for their representative?


weed much?:)


geez man, you're hilarious. :D


I think you're confusing freedom with paranoid delusions. Happens a lot to those who overuse weed.

@Ironside
We as us, Poles. Thats obviously not including you.

I am free to do what i want. Even KOD madmen are.

I am not scared to go to the movies just to meet armed Bane with craze in his eyes. I am not scared to go to the Christmas Market and get run over by a lorry.

I am free and i dont need a gun.

I most likely wouldn't need a parachute either but if I ever did need one and didn't have one I would never need one again.

At least I would have the "freedom" to have that personal choice.
If you feel you don't need a gun then fine, don't apply for a permit to have one but please don't tell me that I can't have that "freedom" to carry one just because you don't want to have one.