Polish ministry proposes mandatory medical checks for gun owners after Kraków shooting

A shooting and a review of the law

On Saturday, 7 November, a shooting took place on the Main Square in Kraków. At a meeting on Monday, 9 November, the Ministry of Interior and Administration recommended a thorough review of the Act on Weapons and Ammunition of 21 May 1999. Deputy Minister of Interior and Administration Wiesław Leśniakiewicz outlined the proposals on Tuesday, 10 November, in an interview with Radio TOK FM, when asked whether the law would change after the Saturday shooting. He said the ministry wants to propose specific changes in a new act, because the current law has been in force for more than a quarter of a century.

Periodic medical checks for owners

The ministry wants the new law to require gun owners to undergo periodic medical examinations. At present most of them, including hunters, sport shooters and collectors, are not subject to regular health and psychological checks. Leśniakiewicz also addressed where weapons should be kept, and the remark is one of several ideas that came up at the Monday meeting.

“Not every firearm should be kept in an apartment.”

The storage comment was made in the same radio interview as the plans for a register and the medical checks.

Black-powder weapons and permits

Black-powder weapons are also part of the review. Leśniakiewicz said the ministry wants to know where these weapons are, so it can create an appropriate register for them. He added that the whole process of issuing permits would also need a closer look.

“Black-powder weapons are also part of this, so that we know where they are and can create an appropriate register for them.”

The ministry frames these topics as part of one revision of the 1999 act, which it describes as a law that has been in force for over 25 years.

Registered firearms and permit holders

According to Police Headquarters data, 1,037,778 legally registered firearms were on the books at the end of 2025. That is more than 107.6 thousand above the year before and 2.7 times the 381.6 thousand recorded in 2014. The count rose every year, from 587.9 thousand at the end of 2020 to 930.1 thousand at the end of 2024. Across those five years the figure grew by about 77%, or nearly 450 thousand pieces.

End 2020

587900 firearms

End 2021

658400 firearms

End 2022

760200 firearms

End 2023

843800 firearms

End 2024

930100 firearms

End 2025

1037778 firearms

Data from the article text

The number of people holding firearm permits also climbed, reaching 411,769 at the end of 2025. That compares with 367,411 a year earlier and 197,595 in 2014, more than double over 11 years. Some 50,709 new permits were issued in 2025, the highest annual figure in the analyzed period.

2014197,595

End 2024367,411

End 2025411,769

2014

197595 people

End 2024

367411 people

End 2025

411769 people

Data from the article text