"There is no shortage of enthusiasts, so much so that one has to call the shooting range and make sure that there are no reservations for all lanes, because some company has organized a party for its employees, or even a real training," says a lover of the discipline, a retired professor from the Warsaw University of Technology, who was my cicerone in this matter when a year ago I wrote for the first time about the growing shooting passion in the nation.

Since then, interest in weapons and shooting has grown steadily. All the more so because during the pandemic it was a sport available almost without restrictions, because at a shooting range - especially an outdoor one - there was virtually no contact with other people. On the other hand, because of the pandemic there were problems with ammunition supplies and possibilities to quickly buy new weapons, such as sig sauer, beretta, walther, colt or glock, popular among amateurs - everything became more expensive, but I won't give you the prices, because, firstly, we're not a shop, and secondly, why excite those who won't buy anything anyway, but they are always ready to complain.

But there are also strong and hard reasons for the growing interest. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the fierce, magnificent defence undertaken by our Ukrainian neighbours has meant that shooting is no longer just a passion and a sport, but is slowly becoming real preparation for the tough challenges that may lie ahead. And then the ability to handle a weapon can be as important as the ability to drive a car or operate a drone.

The problem, of course, is the cost, which in an inflationary environment is no small matter.

WAR IN UKRAINE

"But they don't have to be horrendous either," thinks the shooting judge and gives an example of a simple shooting competition he prepared for young people from voluntary cavalry groups. Each competitor spends about half an hour on the 25-metre track - then he pays 60 zlotys for the track with an instructor (necessary if you don't have a gun licence). Let's count further: 9x19 parabellum pistol ammunition costs PLN 4.5 - 5 (one cartridge, of course), .22LR side-firing ammunition - PLN 1.50. So, if a competitor shoots five shots from two types of weapon in practice and, in a competition, another five preceded by three practice shots, he or she pays PLN 59.50 for ammunition. If his club or association finances part of the expenses, the young person has to pay several dozen zlotys. - But what a benefit, education and satisfaction - stresses the judge.

In shooting competitions, the judge has a slightly different meaning than in any other sporting competition. In these, it is not a question of getting the best place, but of regular, monthly confirmation of skills, at which a judge must be present. The one quoted above works with volunteer cavalry groups all the time, but he gives examples of such ordinary, everyday competitions for all other social groups: student associations, school groups, older scouts, pro-defence organisations or workers' groups. And what, everyone pulls out their wallets like that and pays up? The judge has no doubt that sponsors can be found if you just try a little.

Firefighters, police officers and... the university

Shooting ranges are not in short supply, they are even increasing. You can also prepare a shooting range on your own land, but it must meet safety requirements. Indoor shooting ranges in big cities do cost a lot of money, but open ranges, located in rural areas, far from any buildings, are just as good, and for the nearest months to the end of autumn even the best.

"Practically every municipality could take care of it," says a shooting enthusiast from the Warsaw University of Technology, with a somewhat idealistic vision. "In communes there are voluntary fire brigades, police, i.e. people familiar with weapons, who could conduct trainings and competitions. The culture of dealing with weapons must grow, including knowledge of the dangers they pose. After all, the point is not that everyone should have a gun in their home, but that everyone should have basic knowledge about them", says a polytechnic expert.

He has already persuaded many people to take the training, and he has also obtained a trainer's licence so that he can comfortably train his friends and his own grandchildren. At the university he came across an interesting challenge, to which he does not yet know how to respond. Interest in shooting and pro-defence training is shown by young - and not only quite young - academics. But who, where and for what money would train them?

Students are a different matter - the Academic Legion is available to them (it was only founded four years ago, by the way!), as long as a given university invites it and appoints a plenipotentiary, and far from all of them do so (sic!). Once a year, the Academic Legion offers willing students military training - also in a military unit, where the student can shoot - until taking the oath and becoming a soldier, non-commissioned officer training and obtaining the rank of non-commissioned officer, and after obtaining a master's degree - officer training and obtaining the rank of officer after passing appropriate exams. And there is no shortage of applicants, although I would like to stress that the Academic Legion has not "caught on" in every university. But a student at any university can enrol at any other university and receive highly specialised training, for example in cyber security.

- But what to do with employees willing to undergo pro-defence training, especially if they don't have any idea about shooting, because they didn't have any training in high school or college either, and in this situation there are now forty-year-olds or slightly younger?", asks the retired professor rhetorically.

It seems that the army has lost sight of them and now doesn't really know how to get them back. And you have to pay for everything, every bullet costs money, as does an hour with an instructor. A certain option are the units of the Territorial Defence Forces, but do young assistant professors and professors end up there? If not, perhaps they should apply for the training themselves and pay for it, if they have a positive attitude towards their country and its defence?

High school shootings

In recent weeks, the Ministry of Education has proposed that the pro-defence training be extended to include older youth. Can - should - school children learn to handle weapons, shoot, receive training in first aid and behaviour in dangerous situations? After all, who among us knows what to do in the event of a terrorist attack? An aerial bomb attack? A nuclear attack? Older readers will no doubt remember the idiotic jokes about how one should cover oneself with a white sheet and crawl to a cemetery, but knowledge does not grow from jokes. And the supposedly obligatory exercises in this area in every workplace somehow do not occupy a proper position in the plans of employees.

We are a long way from Switzerland, where every adult male has a gun in his house and is obliged to keep it ready, that is to say in good condition, clean it and check it. Especially as it is not his weapon, it is the state or the municipality that has entrusted it to him, so that he can defend the country in case of emergency. And every adult citizen has a uniform and is obliged to air that uniform and keep it in such a condition that it is suitable to wear at any time. I know some excellent Swiss jokes about this, but so what - we are not Switzerland, even in this respect.

I have no intention of referring in this column to the utterly unheard-of manipulations to which the media - not only social ones - have subjected the education ministry's proposal, by all means reasonable and well-timed, not only because of Russian aggression against Ukraine and the war, but also because of the growing public interest in shooting. "How terrible it is," the media and some of their favourites tried to spin the atmosphere, "that young people want to shoot. Let's add that on a shooting range. Because young people do want to, and not so that "it's like in the USA" or "like in the movies". So the question of whether schoolchildren can - and should - learn to handle weapons is probably unfounded.

Meanwhile, even young people brought up in the scouting movement have not had any training in shooting! There is no reason whatsoever to bring up young people in our country with a false sense of pacifism, since Poland has had, has had and will continue to have as a neighbour an aggressive Russian state that is not in the habit of living in harmony and peace with others.

"And this increased interest is simply a return to tradition, which has always been present in the free world. And it was high time", Krzysztof Szuster, an outstanding expert on the subject, told me a year ago. "What was needed was appropriate legislation, the removal of barriers restricting access to this discipline, and slowly everything began to take shape, because rationing is never conducive to development," he added.

A year ago, when nobody dreamt of the current war situation, working on an article about the pros and cons of the shooting passion was simply interesting. About the gains and losses of shooting. "What losses? - Krzysztof Szuster wondered prophetically. "Losses were incurred during all these years, when after 1989 it was believed that the army, police and NATO would take care of our defence".

But now the situation has changed - there was the war in Ukraine, and before that there were dramatic weeks on the border, when the help of groups of Territorial Defence Forces turned out to be indispensable. Skills and knowledge of actions connected with threats ceased to be a "hide-and-seek game", as some tried to disavow shooting passions. It never was, anyway, since even the scouts complained that no one teaches them how to shoot (the exception being, for the sake of fairness, the European Scouts).

The conditions are there. There are enough pro-defence organisations, not only historical associations, not only re-enactment teams, and ordinary sports groups so that there is someone to offer shooting competitions, which after all require basic knowledge and skills, teach discipline, balance, and shape relations. We do not have to travel for hours in search of an accessible shooting range. We do not have to overpay. And we don't have to give in to the defeatists that "it" does no good.

– Barbara Sułek-Kowalska
– Translated by Tomasz Krzyżanowski

TVP WEEKLY. Editorial team and jornalists