President’s Message: Israel – a Case Study In Gun Control

by Katie Howard | Oct 10, 2023

Israel – a Case Study In Gun Control

Israel provides us a live Case Study arguing against gun control, given the events of these past few days.

Our world is not a “safe” place.  Any  illusion of safety we Americans had was destroyed in an instant over 20 years ago.  Our large cities are no longer safe and our rural areas, especially along the border, are equally dangerous.  It is no wonder that Americans from all backgrounds and ethnicities have been buying record numbers of self-defense firearms and other tools, for the protection of themselves, their families, and others.  Women and minorities, in particular, have been showing up at gun shops and training courses all across the country, closing the gap in what was once a male dominated field.  Why is this?

People have to feel safe.   We can no longer delude ourselves that the police are going to be there to protect us.  Realistically, they often cannot be.  There are too many of us, not enough of them and too much crime.  It is up to us to protect ourselves, and each other.  If the police arrive in time to take over – great.  But you cannot count on that.

In 1943, Abraham Maslow established a model to represent human needs. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and it looks like a triangle.  At the base of this model – it’s foundation – are Physiological Needs (shelter, water, food) and next in line:  Safety.  In his studies of the human condition, Maslow determined that when our security is threatened, everything else takes a back seat.

Events in Israel

And Saturday, our world became even more dangerous, our safety was threatened.  Israel’s certainly was. Make no mistake, when this is over, the world and its alliances will look different than they did on Friday of last week.

Saturday, Hamas launched an unprovoked attack against Israel by land, through tunnels, by sea and even using paragliders.  They killed 260+ civilians at a music festival.  They killed families in their homes.  They abducted some untold number of innocent civilians—women, children, and elderly— dragging some through the streets.  Reports are coming out now that the hostages are being summarily executed by Hamas. Eleven American citizens and one British national are confirmed dead.  Hezbollah has also fired rockets and artillery at Israel.  A Hamas official announced today that Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah are “ready to join the battle”.

Global Impacts

Deaths from both sides are nearly 2,000 at this point (and thousands more injured) in this 3-day-old war.  The Israeli Prime Minister has responded with counteroffensive attacks without restraint. He has mobilized 300,000 reservists.  He has laid siege to Gaza.  Water, food, electricity, and the internet have been cut off to the Gaza Strip.  The Palestinian President is scheduled to go to Moscow to visit with Putin.  Saudi Arabia has reassured Palestine that it will continue to support them.  People are demonstrating in Paris, in London, in New York, in Chicago, and even in San Diego.  Arrests have been made.

U.S. military aid is enroute to Israel with an aircraft carrier strike force, the lynchpin of which is the USS Gerald R Ford—the largest aircraft carrier in the US fleet.  This is not a regional conflict.  These are dark days for us all.  And, just like 9-11 was a colossal intelligence failure for the US, this surprise attack by Hamas represents a massive intelligence failure by Israelis.  In both instances, the intelligence apparatus of the government failed to keep its citizens safe.

The Impact of Israel’s Gun Control Laws

So, what does a war half-way around the world have to do with gun control?  There should be a learning lesson for our country, from the events in Israel today.  In a Truth About Guns article by Konstadinos Moros, “The Israeli Terrorist Attack Should End the Gun Control Debate in the US…But It Won’t”, he states:

Israel foolishly does not have a right to bear arms, meaning there could be no immediate resistance to the Hamas invaders.  They had free reign to slaughter men, women, and children until IDF could respond.

Mr. Moros points out that Israel has a much smaller population than the US.   If an organized terrorist attack happened here, the comparative number of deaths in the US (adjusted for our much larger population), would be around 24,000 people.  In the initial attack.  Israel has been hit hard, most definitely.

Imagine if Israel had laws allowing its citizens to own firearms, as in the US.  Do you think those people might have fought back?  That some of them, at least, would have been able to protect their families?

How Do Israel’s Gun Control Laws Compare?

In another article published in Bearing Arms, entitled “Israel’s gun control policies worsened the death toll”, written yesterday by Ranjit Singh, he argues that “the death toll wouldn’t have been so insanely high if not for Israel’s gun control policies”.  His article includes a link to The Library of Congress listing of gun control policies in countries from around the world, including Israel. Then he provides a list of what the Israeli policies are, concluding that “Israel’s gun control looks a lot like New York’s or California’s gun control…except it’s much worse“.

He says that some of those who attended the music festival where 250 people were slaughtered, DID fight back.  They grabbed the attackers’ guns and fought back, killing some of them. How many of those 250 festival goers would not have died if they had possessed firearms in the first place?  How many others could they have saved?  Read the article, please.

A Newsweek article “Israel Festival-Goer’s “Defenseless” After Gun Ban”, written by Katherine Fung, describes the scene:

Thousands of people were dancing at the Supernova festival early Saturday when the surprise assault on Israel took place. After hearing sirens and rockets go off, festival-goers heard a barrage of gunfire that halted the music and sent crowds scrambling to get to safety. At least 260 bodies have been recovered from the festival site in the Negev Desert in southern Israel, according to rescue agency Zaka.

Conservative commenter Katie Pavlich is quoted in that article which then states, “Responding to Pavlich’s tweet, an X user wrote, “Another example of gun free zones being the worst place to be.”” Sums it up perfectly.

Change in Response to The War

Now, however, Israel has now changed its tune, somewhat.  In a Townhall article written yesterday by Matt Vespa, “Amid New War With Hamas, Israel Loosens Regulations on Firearm Ownership” he says, “The right to gun ownership and self-defense were highlighted as many of these civilians killed and kidnapped had no means to stop these heavily armed Islamic radicals”.  He states that Itamar Ben-Givr, minister for National Security, has now loosened those restrictions:

Today I directed the Firearms Licensing Division to go on an emergency operation, in order to allow as many citizens as possible to arm themselves”, and the outlines of the plan follow his statement.

Frankly, there are still hoops to jump through and I’m wondering how feasible it is for citizens who are under ongoing attack, to get that taken care of in the midst of war.  Nonetheless, I’m sure their motivation to do so will be high.  I simply cannot imagine being under a sustained onslaught with no means of defense against armed intruders.

The hardest hitting article I found on this topic was published by The Truth About Guns, called “Terrorist Attacks in Israel Are About to Change the Country and the Way They Think About Guns“.  You should read this article.  Author Dan Zimmerman concludes it by saying:

…The fear of tyranny may not be the foremost on Israelis’ minds in their desire to own guns, but watching terrorists literally raining down from the sky, wading through blood in the streets, and being slaughtered in their own homes is.

 

Israelis live in a country that has been under direct threat and sometimes attack since 1948. If this weekend’s atrocities don’t convince the population in general and Israel’s government in particular that Israelis need to have American-style gun rights and the means to defend themselves, nothing ever will.

As our esteemed President, Dave Funk, is always reminding us, be Ready at All Times.

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