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As concerns for a potential Russian invasion increase, Poland is taking action by having children 13 and older take firearms training to prepare. Adults supervise the classes and instead of live ammunition, laser-based systems are used. 

“With the state of the world today, I think this type of training is very valuable,” Polish principal Ewa Golinska said during an interview with Metro UK.

Poland shares a border with Ukraine, which is in an ongoing war with Russia, and could be collaterally involved if military actions escalate. According to Metro UK, there are about 18,000 schools across Poland that are going to implement firearms training classes. 

The classes used to be optional but became mandatory about three months ago. Although not mandatory, the nation of Switzerland has encouraged children as young as 10 to get involved in firearm safety classes.

One mother told the outlet that she feels like her children are on the right side of history with the training. “We are very proud that our children want to be on the right side of history, to defend our country and to be patriotic,” mother Monika Stolinska said. 

Poland is the first European Union nation to mandate these trainings. While firearms are becoming a bigger deal in Poland, a 2023 poll shows that gun ownership is at an all time high in the U.S. It was the invasion of Poland by the Nazis in September of 1939 that ignited World War II.

Fifty-two percent of U.S. voters said they or a household member owned a gun in an NBC News survey. The result marked the highest level of household gun ownership in the poll’s history.

That figure included 66% of Republicans, 45% of independents, and 41% of Democrats, all three of which have witnessed a net increase in gun ownership since 2004. In March of that year, 57% of Republicans reported that either they or a household member owned a gun, with 41% of independents and 33% of Democrats saying the same.

Americans purchased roughly 5.5 million guns in the first four months of 2024, according to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

Firearm sales reached a peak in 2020, attributed to the Covid pandemic and an increase in political unrest. The annual number of firearm sales has been decreasing ever since.