On February 15, 2026, a Slovakian father and son used a handgun or handguns to defend against an attacking European brown bear, Ursus arctos. From bernama.com:
Environment state secretary Filip Kuffa said the father and son had been inspecting timber in a mountain forest with a hunting dog when the bear attacked unexpectedly.
According to Mr Kuffa, the father fired several shots from his pistol in self-defence, but the bear knocked him to the ground and bit him repeatedly.
His son then shot and killed the animal with a handgun.
The incident has been verified by multiple accounts from Slovakian sources. It is unclear whether there was one or two handguns or what caliber they were. The attack happened very fast, with little or no warning. The bear grabbed the father, and they tumbled down a steep slope. The son had to be sure he would not shoot the father, who was underneath the bear. The father was 57 years old. The attack took place near Ružomberok, in the Žilina region of north-central Slovakia.
Defense against bears with handguns is unusual in Europe because of highly restrictive firearms laws. However, 2% of adults in Slovakia hold a permit to carry a concealed handgun. This is a very large number for Europe.
8.2% of adults in the United States have concealed carry permits. There are 29 of the 50 states in which no permit is required to carry a handgun, concealed or openly. There are 9 states where it is difficult to obtain a permit to carry. For example, in California, only about .6% of adults have a permit to carry.
While researching the most recent defensive firing of a handgun against a bear in Slovakia, a previous incident was uncovered. The incident occurred near Sučany, about 30 miles to the east of Ružomberok. From praguemonitor.com:
Over the weekend, a man walking his dog near the village of Sučany, close to Martin in northwestern Slovakia, was attacked by an 18-year-old female bear. In an act of self-defense, the man shot the bear with a legally held weapon. TA3 television reported that even warning shots fired into the air were ineffective in deterring the bear, which was stopped by a fatal shot just a meter away from the man. The police are currently investigating the incident.
In the most recent case, the bear was also a female, with very young cubs in a den. Bear attacks in Slovakia have resulted in a culling of bears. A recent academic paper showed that Slovakia suffers from the highest density of human-bear conflicts. Local bear density was found to be one of the most important factors. The population of bears in Slovakia is estimated at 1,300, according to the BBC.
In 2004, the Slovakian bears were protected and no longer listed as a game species.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
