If the US Wants to Stop Mass Shootings, It Should Follow Israel's Lead
In the wake of the horrific, Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks, Israel has relaxed its gun laws to permit ordinary citizens to purchase and carry firearms should they need to defend themselves.
Vulnerable Jews now have a choice as to whether they wish to strap up and be ready for the potential that they might be targeted by violence.
A photo of an Israeli journalist packing a handgun while behind an anchor’s desk, which went viral on social media, perhaps best represents a sudden change in gun policy in a country that is surrounded by hostile militant groups and governments alike.
Reporter Lital Shemesh had a handgun tucked away neatly into her waistband during a recent broadcast, and people who were watching from home were presumably none the wiser.
An Israeli news presenter seen here with a gun on her hip during her newscast.
The Hamas terrorist attacks on October 7th are changing arms policies in Israel, with more and more citizens choosing to carry weapons. pic.twitter.com/4Sq2EuqOay
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) January 3, 2024
Most Americans of course already have the right to purchase and carry such weapons, depending on where they live and how much they are willing to train and spend.
Given the fact that almost every citizen of Israel is required to serve a minimum of two years in the military, the country’s citizens are mostly proficient in regard to firearms.
But what if America encouraged more citizens to buy weapons and train with them?
Could Israel’s sudden embrace of gun rights inspire people on this side of the world to be ready to defend themselves and others from violent criminals and deranged mass shooters?
Israel Lifted Restrictions on Gun Ownership in the Wake of Hamas’ Unimaginable Attacks Against Its People
After noting that many civilian security forces had their firearms confiscated several years ago, The Times of Israel reported the week after the terror attacks, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir announced that people who reside near the country’s borders would again be armed.
The National Security Ministry was said to have purchased “10,000 rifles to arm civilian security teams, specifically those in towns close to Israel’s borders around the country, as well as mixed Jewish-Arab cities and West Bank settlements.”
People in these areas were also offered tactical vests and helmets.
Ben Gvir was quoted as saying, “We will turn the world upside down, so that towns are protected. I have given instructions for massively arming the civilian security teams to provide solutions for towns and cities, and so as not to leave towns unprotected.”
Three months after monsters butchered at least 1,200 children, women and men, it is less likely people living in vulnerable areas of the country will be caught defenseless again.
Shemesh isn’t taking any chances:
Don’t mess with Jewish women 💪🏼🇮🇱 https://t.co/sko3JcpT2T
— ליטל שמש – Lital Shemesh (@Litalsun) January 3, 2024
It certainly appears as though Shemesh was ready for anything — even while reading the news behind a desk in what would likely be considered a safe location.
Could America learn from Israel’s newfound appreciation for individual gun rights?
American Gun Laws and the Ever-Present Threat of Violence
While we know millions of Americans own, train with and carry firearms with them daily, there are people who simply are not comfortable around firearms.
For obvious reasons, many people associate guns with violence and death. For that reason, even many people who support the Second Amendment make the decision every day to pray they are not targeted by evil in an increasingly violent and lawless country.
Schools, shopping malls, movie theaters and other places where people tend to gather have proved to be vulnerable to people whose modus operandi is to create chaos and death.
Uvalde. Aurora. Sandy Hook. The list goes on and on, and we know without a doubt that restricting gun rights would not dissuade criminals and the criminally insane from carrying out their homicidal fantasies.
The fact that throughout the last several weeks upwards of 10,000 people per day have been entering this country illegally through the open southern border is proof positive that if lawmakers in Washington outlawed gun ownership tomorrow, a black market for guns would pop up within hours.
The cartels and their coyotes would make a fortune on running guns into the country through Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California in a kind of reversal of the Obama-era Fast and Furious policy of encouraging American guns to trickle into Mexico.
In short, if every gun in America was outlawed by this time next week, those who already ignore laws — people known as criminals — would simply pay extra for illegal guns.
The situation for law-abiding citizens would be a nightmare.
Luckily, gun rights are enshrined in our Constitution, which brings us back to the question of using Israel’s blueprint for self-defense and applying it to American citizens.
Arming and Training Americans to Defend Themselves Against Evil
If Americans adopted a similar strategy for arming citizens, obviously it would have to be voluntary, and the firearms would be owned by the individual.
We would also have to assume that public officials in areas of the country that are under majority Democratic Party rule would opt out of a program to help train everyone from stay-at-home mothers to white-collar accountants to learn their way around a gun.
Perhaps local police agencies could offer free gun training to qualified participants.
Perhaps communities could organize classes to teach novice gun owners to use their weapons safely, correctly and efficiently.
There would be very little downside to such an approach to public safety, but the positives could pay dividends.
We hope but cannot be sure that Hamas militants are not waiting in the wings to strike a peaceful gathering of Americans on U.S. soil. But as we’ve tragically seen in recent years, foreign threats to safety arguably pose less of a threat to security than the average lone-wolf psychopath.
Rather than to ask Americans to watch on as communities are scarred by violence, we should imagine a country in which Americans are encouraged to train to use firearms in the event they have an opportunity to stop a madman (or madwoman).
Any program or programs that could offer training and education, whether public or private, could stop another horrific and needless loss of life.
Gun rights are sacred and should not be demonized, but celebrated.
Israel overturned bad policy when it became apparent its people were vulnerable.
A handgun such as the one Shemesh was carrying during her recent newscast might not stop an entire gang of rabid Islamic terrorists — especially if she were alone and something unexpected happened.
But she and others now have a fighting chance if and when they encounter evil. Americans could take a similar approach.
While millions of us stateside are armed at all times while in public, there are millions more who are vulnerable to violence in an increasingly dangerous country and world.
More guns on the street and in capable hands could eliminate the constant threat of the mass shooter — or at least make some of these people think twice as they plan their acts of violence.
As Shemesh advised on her X account just days ago, “Go arm yourself.”
לכו תתחמשו. pic.twitter.com/xWRTDho425
— ליטל שמש – Lital Shemesh (@Litalsun) December 28, 2023
No official policy needs to be written, debated and voted on here in the states. Americans who are not currently exercising their God-given gun rights can make the decision today to arm themselves with weapons, train with them and encourage others to do the same.
No existing public policy has made a dent in the instances of shocking violence and mass shootings, thus far.
It might be time to take a look at Israel’s response to the threat of unthinkable violence.
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