At a press conference on Tuesday, Ziobro said he had the "status of a victim in a case concerning a murder contract" and therefore a few years ago he had applied for a gun permit.
Mateusz Marek/PAP

Opposition MPs have called for the justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, to be stripped of his gun licence.

Pictures of Ziobro with a pistol tucked into his belt, taken as a gust of wind blew his jacket up while he visited a lignite mine on Monday, have appeared all over the Polish media.

Tomasz Szymański and Jarosław Urbaniak of the main opposition bloc, the Civic Coalition (KO), said at a press conference on Wednesday that “a firearm should be carried in a holster or a case in a way that is as inconspicuous as possible” as well as “preventing access to unauthorised persons.”

Szymański said that “the law was broken and (state – PAP) services should act,” adding that as a consequence police should deprive the justice minister of his gun permit.

Urbaniak went on to say that “the justice minister is carrying a loaded gun like a gangster from a Hollywood movie.”

“Today we want to ask a question: Is Minister Ziobro above the law?” Szymański said.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Ziobro said he had the “status of a victim in a case concerning a murder contract” and therefore a few years ago he had applied for a gun permit.

The justice minister also said he had been shooting for sport for more than 20 years, and added the reason he was carrying the pistol, a modified Glock 26, was that he had been firing the gun that weekend.