NRA-ILA | Young Guns: Poland, Argentina Reconsider Rules on Youths and Firearms

Poland has reportedly become the first European Union (EU) country to make training in firearms compulsory for school students. According to the Express (US) news, in 2022, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine occurred just over the border, the Polish Ministry of Education and Science determined that the “current challenges and threats require supplementing the goals of education and teaching content with issues related to state defense, acquiring shooting skills, and preparing students to cope with threats caused by hostilities.” Following a two-year transitional period, the optional firearm training became compulsory starting in the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 school years.

In primary schools, the training focuses on teaching students how to handle weapons safely, while the secondary school training progresses to teaching the basics of shooting, “with a practical part conducted with the use of safe tools for shooting practice,” using air guns, replicas of small arms, and virtual or laser shooting (one vendor has developed a laser shooting system that he is selling to over 18,000 Polish schools).

The curriculum will also include instruction on “the identification of challenges to individual and collective security, the importance of cyber threats in the civilian dimension, and preparation for rescue operations in emergency situations (mass accidents and disasters).”

Poland’s Ministry of Education wants its young people to be prepared to defend their country in the future. The principal of one primary school providing the mandatory training comments that, “with the state of the world today, I think this training is very valuable.” A parent adds, “[w]e are very proud that our children want to be on the right side of history, to defend our country, and to be patriotic.”

This training complements the growing interest in Poland in military training programs for civilians, likewise based on concern over the Russian war against Ukraine raging next door. Earlier this year, for instance, the Polish armed forces launched “Holidays with the Army,” a summer training event for adults aged 18-35. Participants in the 28-day course, available at 70 locations across the country, learn combat, shooting and other military skills. Col. Pawel Galazka, a commander of one of the military units providing the training, explains, the army “wants to train as many citizens as possible,” as “everyone knows about the threat that comes from the east.” (Poland shares an eastern border with Belarus, an ally of Russia, as well as a northern border with the Russian territory of Kaliningrad, where “Poland believes Moscow stores about 100 tactical nuclear warheads.”)

The number of volunteers participating in the program exceeded the initial target of 10,000. Those completing the program can join a branch of the professional armed forces, the Territorial Defense Forces, or go on standby status as reservists. Commenting on his motivation, an 18-year-old participant advises that he had changed his career goals from computer science to the military, given the potential threat to his country. “Someone has to do it,” he says. “Not everyone is capable of this, but we are capable of this. … There is no other way.”  

In Argentina, meanwhile, President Javier Milei recently signed Decree 1081/2024, lowering the minimum age for the acquisition, possession, and carrying of firearms for civilian use from 21 to 18, to coincide with the legal age of majority. The change is necessary, reads the decree, “in order to harmonize the legislation in force, recognizing the capacity of citizens to be legitimate users of weapons from the age of EIGHTEEN (18).”

A December 11 post on X by Argentina’s Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich, explains that the measure:

 … updates an obsolete regulation from 1975, and respects the Reform of the Civil Code of 2015, which set[s] the age of majority at 18 years. At 16, [youths] have the right to vote. At 18, they can go to war, start a family, or become members of a security force. And, although it may seem incredible, at any age they can choose to change their sex, which will mark them for life. So why shouldn’t 18-year-olds be legitimate users or bearers of a weapon? …While we disarm narco-terrorist gangs and organized crime, we celebrate that good citizens can access weapons as legitimate users.

She concluded: “In this Government, we are making the right of Argentines to protect themselves and live in freedom a reality.” A Breitbart news article on the matter clarifies that although “the new decree lowers the minimum age to become a legitimate firearm owner, it does not modify the other existing requirements,” and individuals wishing to acquire firearms and ammunition must still obtain the necessary Credential of Legitimate Firearms User (CLU, or Credencial de Legítimo Usuario de Armas de Fuego), requiring training, a psychophysical exam, and a fee of $5,000 Argentine pesos (just under US$5).

In each country, these are different realities that lead to the same truth. Poland and Argentina correctly recognize that these youngsters and young adults are tomorrow’s good citizens, who must be entrusted to safeguard their own personal security, as well their country against threats from outside, if they wish to live in freedom.  

America, too, has its own enduring tradition: 18-to-20-year-olds have historically been understood to be part of the militia at the time of the founding, and thus part of “the people” who have the right “to keep and bear arms” protected by the Second Amendment. Not only are these young adults endowed with Second Amendment rights, they have other political and legal rights and legal privileges that show they are trusted members of the community who can make responsible choices.

The NRA has been actively involved in promoting firearm safety and responsible firearm use to youth since 1903, introducing shooting sports and hunting to the next generation through training and safety courses, competitions and marksmanship, awards and scholarships, and more. The “Eddie Eagle GunSafe” program has taught young children in pre-K through fourth grade simple gun safety and what to do if they ever come across a gun.

Moreover, the NRA has consistently defended the Second Amendment rights of responsible young adults against governmental restrictions. An amicus brief the NRA recently filed in one such case, challenging Minnesota’s carry prohibition for 18-to-20-year-olds, points out that “the state cannot seriously argue that young adults lack proper judgment or the ability to exercise rational decision making considering the other rights that it has given them.” The brief concludes with a quote from a freedom of speech case in which the United States Supreme Court refers to the “theory deeply etched in our law” – that a free society prefers to punish the few who abuse their rights after they break the law, rather “than to throttle them and all others beforehand.”