Poland’s Ministry of Education introduced a firearms training program into the school curriculum in 2022. Students are taught firearms safety and how to handle firearms properly using replica firearms, air guns, and laser-based tools. The training guns used cannot accept live ammunition, which ensures everyone’s safety.[i]
Firearms training classes are mandatory for all students.
- Primary school students learn firearms safety essentials as well as how to safely handle a firearm.
- Secondary school students will learn more detailed safety training and basic marksmanship skills.
In an undated video released online, students are excited about the training.[ii]
“It feels good to hit the target,” says one student.
“Shooting is fun,” says another.
“I think it’s a good idea. Life is scary these days, so you have to be prepared for anything,” says one secondary school-aged student.
A 2-year transition period introduced firearms training into Polish schools in 2022, with participation being optional. In 2024, firearms safety and use training became mandatory.[iii]
Is Poland Training Future School Shooters?
To many, making firearms safety training mandatory for elementary school children seems insane. To them, it’s a recipe for disaster to make shooting skills training mandatory for all high school students.
“You’re training up school shooters?” seems to be the most common response to this news.
Far from it.
The reality, born out of research into gang violence in inner-city America, shows that the best way to stop children from becoming obsessed with guns is to take the mystique away through education.
When a child is trained in the safe handling and use of firearms, they are far less likely to get involved in gang life and the violence that goes with it.
Safety training strips away any false beliefs about guns and replaces them with a sense of responsibility and a deep understanding of the dangers of mishandling firearms.
Canada’s Forgotten Firearms History
What most Canadians have forgotten but most of our members recall with fondness, firearms safety training was delivered to elementary school children in Canada up until the mid-1980s.
Many schools across Canada had shooting ranges in their basements as late as the 1970s.
Safe handling and use of firearms programs were commonplace.
School shootings were exceedingly rare during this time.
School shootings became common only after firearms safety training was removed from the Canadian school system.
Instills a Sense of Personal Responsibility
Safe firearms use instills a sense of responsibility into students in a way that few other disciplines can, because failure to obey the 4 basic rules of firearms safety can lead to disastrous results.
THE VITAL FOUR ACTS OF FIREARMS SAFETY
- Assume every firearm is loaded.
- Control the muzzle direction at all times.
- Trigger finger must be kept off the trigger and out of the trigger guard.
- See that the firearm is unloaded – PROVE it safe.
PROVE The Firearm is Safe
- Point the firearm in the safest available direction.
- Remove all cartridges.
- Observe the chamber.
- Verify the feeding path.
- Examine the bore.
When you follow these simple rules, you dramatically reduce the possibility of someone being injured or killed.
More Liberal Lumps of Coal Coming?
During their press conference announcing the ban of another 324 makes and models of firearms, Minister Dominic LeBlanc and other members of cabinet made it clear that more restrictions and bans were coming in the new year.
- “Enhanced license qualifications” will be introduced on Parliament’s first sitting in January
- New magazine restrictions will be introduced “no later than March 2025”
- New additions to the Red and Yellow flag laws introduced through Bill C-21 are coming “in the spring”
- The Liberal government plans to ban the SKS semi-automatic rifle, along with many others sometime in the new year
- The Liberal government will (it claims) complete confiscations of banned firearms from dealers before the 2025 election
- The Liberal government says it will begin confiscating banned firearms from individuals before the next federal election
NOTE TO FIREARMS OWNERS
Do not turn in your banned firearms before the government-imposed confiscation deadline. A change in government is coming, and with it, we anticipate these confiscation orders may vanish like a bad dream.
[i] https://humanevents.com/2024/12/16/poland-becomes-first-eu-nation-to-implement-firearms-training-in-all-primary-and-secondary-schools
[ii] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO_NRejn6dU
[iii] https://dignitynews.eu/en/firearm-training-in-schools-new-guidelines-from-the-ministry-of-education-and-science/
