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WARSAW, Poland (AP) – Poland’s embattled justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, has drawn outrage after airing shows him carrying a gun tucked in his belt.
Ziobro was placing a flower at a party in central Poland when the wind revealed that he was carrying a Glock pistol.
Critics on social media argued that the minister should not be confident in the security he received as a state figure, but supporters noted that Ziobro, who is also the attorney general, had received death threats.
Ziobro said he had a permit to carry a firearm and that he practiced shooting at the range on weekends, as a sport. He had the gun on because the alternative was to leave it in the car, which was not allowed, as he stopped at the party on his way back to Warsaw at the beginning of the work week.
Ziobro, 52, is the head of a small group in the government’s right-wing coalition and has strong views, including support for the death penalty. He rejects changes to the judicial system that have put Poland at odds with the European Union.
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