The use of firearms, their frequency, and legitimacy through self-defence and extreme necessity are socially relevant in Czechia and Slovakia. Legal firearm ownership for defence purposes impacts overall social security, influenced by factors like firearm legislation, cultural traditions, legal awareness, and violent crime rates. Understanding this issue requires considering subjective interpretations, even among security experts. This paper explores the theoretical foundations of self-defence and extreme necessity from criminal law, alongside practical implications supported by police statistics on violent crimes involving firearms in Czechia and Slovakia. It also includes a comparison with selected EU countries. The authors’ research uses a questionnaire to assess attitudes towards choosing defensive firearms, preparation for firearms licensure, and potential support for state security forces. The findings provide insights into legal firearm owners’ behaviours and attitudes toward defence and security. The study aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of firearm use for self-defence, correlating training, weapon preferences, and willingness to enhance state security.

Since the external environment on a global level is very unstable, recovering from various unexpected shocks becomes a challenging question for all countries. Thus, for each country it is necessary to understand its weaknesses and threats. Further, the preparation for any level of uncertainty in various fields must be imperative. Even for the most unpredictable shocks such as pandemic, cyberthreat, or even war. The aim of the article is to evaluate the state resilience of the Baltic States by creating the national resilience index. A state’s resilience is based on four pillars: economic, social, good governance, and defence. The methodology is based the SAW method, data has been collected from NATO and Eurostat databases. As the result of the study, resilience index has been estimated for each year from 2015 to 2022. Results revealed vulnerability and problematic areas of each country.

Countries employ various strategies to strengthen their soft power through education, public campaigns, mandatory service, and community involvement, essential for building a well-informed, prepared, and resilient citizenry. In Indonesia, the Civic Awareness for State Defence (CASD) program is designed to instil state defence awareness among citizens. This study introduces the Indonesia State Defence Index (SDI), a novel metric grounded in theoretical constructs such as national identity, nationalism, patriotism, and national pride. Differentiating from previous indices, our SDI employs advanced methodologies including Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to enhance measurement accuracy. Unlike earlier approaches that used traditional aggregation methods, our use of PCA ensures the reduction of dimensions for each state defence indicator, thereby guaranteeing that only the intended dimensions are measured. Utilising data from the State Defence Survey conducted by the Indonesian Ministry of Defence from 1 March to 26 June 2024, we aim to measure and benchmark SDI values across Indonesian regions, thereby elucidating the civic awareness profile in the context of state defence. The refined SDI provides critical insights for policymakers, highlighting regions that require focused interventions to bolster state defence preparedness.

The question of whether legal gun ownership is a positive security factor in the Czech Republic is subject to expert debate and depends on several factors, including available crime data, public attitudes, and the legal framework. Some argue that legal gun ownership can dissuade criminals because they know victims may be armed. Many advocates argue that the right to own guns is a fundamental right that should be protected. Sometimes, it is difficult to clearly demonstrate that legal gun ownership directly contributes to crime reduction. Statistical data can be interpreted in different ways. In contrast, the presence of guns can in some situations escalate conflicts that could otherwise be resolved nonviolently. In the Czech Republic, legal gun ownership is relatively strictly regulated. Citizens must meet the conditions established by law, including criminal integrity and passing a theoretical-practical examination of professional competence. This regulation aims to ensure that only responsible and qualified individuals own guns. Therefore, the presented article discusses legal gun ownership as an internal factor of state security. Using statistical data, it analyses the amount of violent crime committed with firearms in relation to the possibility of holding and carrying a gun in the conditions of the Czech Republic and in selected EU countries. Furthermore, with the help of a questionnaire survey, it identifies that legal gun ownership can be considered a positive safety factor in certain situations, if it is associated with strict regulation and a responsible attitude of gun owners. The resulting effect on security depends on a combination of legal frameworks, gun culture, and effective law enforcement.