The security environment is increasingly complex and uncertain today. This directly impacts the directions of Poland’s national security transformation, especially the country’s resilience to hybrid threats and war. One such area is threats facing critical infrastructure, facilities of strategic importance as well as services critical to state security and citizens. The article aims to present the way of understanding and building the state’s resilience based on the current legislation on the protection of critical infrastructure against hybrid threats and war, based on the example of Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine. The following research question was posed: Does the current legislation defining the tasks of state and private entities responsible for the protection of facilities, equipment, services of so-called critical infrastructure and the adopted system solutions correspond to modern threats? Our study highlights inconsistencies and gaps in the current legislation on the state’s resilience to hybrid threats and war.

Safety of road users is one of the priority tasks of state institutions and local government authorities. Compared to other EU member states, Poland is characterized by a low level of road safety. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than half of road fatalities affect vulnerable road users (VRU). Most interactions in the vehicle–VRU relationship occur in built-up areas. Limiting the public’s mobility related to the spread of the COVID-19 virus led to changes in road traffic, which was reflected in the level of safety of individual road users. As part of a clear emphasis on the issue of VRU protection, the aim of this article is to examine the level of pedestrian safety in urban space at the time of restrictions on the public’s mobility in Poland during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and after lifting the limitations, based on the example of Szczecin. The authors put forward two research hypotheses: (1) the level of road safety is influenced by the intensity and saturation of the transport network; (2) the intensity of road traffic determines the occurrence of a greater number of road accident consequences. This study analyses traffic accident data over three periods—2017–2018, 2019–2020, and 2021—to identify pedestrian safety trends. The research shows that the intensity of road traffic has a significant impact on the occurrence of road accidents. The reduced road traffic due to the movement restrictions has kept the severity of road accidents moderate. In the post-pandemic period and the gradual lifting of the mobility restrictions, the number of road accidents increased while their consequences decreased.

Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Szczecińskiego

Regulation of firearms licences from a historical, legal and practical perspectiveThe example of the west pomeranian province The issue of individual rights to possess weapons is extremely complex. One of the reasons why countries pursue, to a greater or lesser extent, a policy of regulating weapons permits for individuals is to establish and adopt a generally applicable limit on this right. The aim of this monograph is to present the issues related to the regulatory policy on firearms licences in Poland. The available literature shows that there is still a lack of in-depth research on access to firearms at the regional level. In this case, the author chose the West Pomeranian Province. Studies in this area were of cognitive value and crucial for assessing the consistency of gun licensing policy at the regional and national levels. The primary research objective is to investigate access to firearms by individuals in Poland across various historical periods. Additionally, the study focused on two primary objectives. The first is to analyse normative acts in order to show changes in state management of access to firearms and ammunition in Poland, both historically and in the present day. The second objective is to analyse the available data regarding the police’s policy on issuing firearms licenses in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship and to identify the factors influencing the number of licences issued.