We say clearly: every five years, every gun user up to the age of 70 should submit current test results. However, people who are over 70 years of age should undergo such tests more often, every two years, said Barbara Oliwiecka from the Poland 2050-Third Way club. The MP presented the assumptions of the draft amendment on weapons and ammunition, which her club submitted to the Sejm. It provides for changes in the frequency of examinations by gun owners, including hunters.
The Poland 2050-Trzecia Droga Club submitted to the Sejm a draft amendment to the Act on Weapons and Ammunition, regarding mandatory periodic medical examinations for firearm owners, including hunters. The club's MPs Ewa Szymanowska, Barbara Oliwiecka and Elżbieta Burkiewicz spoke about its assumptions on Thursday at a press conference in the Sejm.
According to the proposed regulations, hunters up to the age of 70 will have to be tested once every five years, and after the age of 70, once every two years.
Burkiewicz assured that the act is not directed against hunters or any social group. – This bill is to make us all feel safe – she assured.
The project is also intended to “increase trust in the state”
Oliwiecka pointed out that the purpose of the bill “is simply to increase the safety of all of us, not only gun users.” – And also, which is very important, increasing trust in the state, in the police, in the body that issues weapons permits – she added.
She pointed out that the police, the body that issues such permits, in fact does not have any tools to check whether a given person should still use a weapon – whether he or she is still sufficiently mobile and whether he or she is still adequately mentally prepared.
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Oliwiecka reminded that in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Weapons and Ammunition Act, gun owners who have weapons for personal protection or protection of persons and property are to undergo examination every five years.
She emphasized that this group excludes hunters, who constitute nearly 70 percent of people who own weapons. – Our bill equalizes these obligations. We say clearly: every five years, every gun user up to the age of 70 should submit current test results. However, people over 70 years of age should undergo such tests more often, every two years, he said.
She added that the project also includes transitional provisions. – Hunters who have outdated tests, i.e. they performed them only once when obtaining a firearms permit and five or two years have passed since then, must provide such medical certificates within 12 months – she explained.
“Also for the safety of hunters”
MP Szymanowska pointed out that, according to statistics from the end of 2023, over 174,000 people in Poland have a permit to possess weapons for personal protection, protection of persons and property, and for hunting purposes. She added that there are approximately 130,000 registered hunters.
– We believe that research is necessary for our safety, but also for the safety of hunters – she argued. She also reminded that in recent years there have been accidents related to the use of weapons by hunters.
In the justification for “equalization of requirements and obligations”
As we read in the document, it was submitted to the marshal's staff on Wednesday. Ewa Szymanowska, MP, was authorized to represent the applicants.
The project concerns imposing on persons with permits to possess weapons for hunting purposes the obligation of periodic medical and psychological examinations confirming that they meet the health criteria related to possessing weapons and increasing the frequency of examinations, i.e. once every two years for people over 70 years of age and once every five years. years for people up to 70 years of age.
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In the justification, the drafters wrote that the need for the act results from “the need to equalize the requirements and obligations of persons who have obtained a firearms license for personal protection, protection of persons and property, and those for hunting purposes.”
“Currently, hunters undergo medical and psychological examinations only when obtaining a permit to possess weapons, and citizens obtaining a permit for personal protection purposes and people professionally engaged in the protection of persons and property must renew such examinations every five years. There is no justification for such a difference , if only because hunters shoot more often than representatives of other groups, and in situations where the risk of shooting a bystander is very high,” it was written.
MEPs also wrote that in recent years there have been numerous cases of incidents involving firearms during hunting, and there have been at least 13 hunting-related fatalities over the last five years. They added that animals of protected species also fall victim to hunters.
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