National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir announced this week that 10,000 semiautomatic rifles are being purchased by the government for distribution in communities near the nation’s borders.
Gvir declared, “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, preparations will be made for a Guardian of the Walls 2.
On Tuesday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to get weapons in the hands of locals living near the border with the Gaza Strip.
Bulletproof vests and helmets are also being dispersed into communities.
Israel does not have the luxury of a Second Amendment, and officials are desperate to arm the citizenry after attacks that led to at least 1,300 fatalities. But the early Saturday morning invasion laid bare the dangers of not being armed while situated in a hostile corner of the world.
Hamas terrorists went door-to-door killing entire families. Drivers were pulled out of vehicles on the streets and children were indiscriminately murdered. Over 200 young people attending a music festival were slaughtered in the rampage that sparked another Middle Eastern war.
Sadly, only about 2% of all Israelis have firearms, but that is set to change quickly.
In the hours after the attacks, across Israel people armed themselves with whatever weapons they could find and patrolled the streets. And many scrambled to jump through the hoops necessary to receive a gun permit in the small country.
Medical clinics reported crowds gathered to obtain their health applications for permits, and doctors rushed to get the paperwork filled out. A volunteer at one Israeli town hall reported assisting over 60 residents who came seeking gun permits.
In the northern town of Karnei Shomron, Mayor Igal Lahav explained that these are “emergency times, so people are responding. The idea is that people should take responsibility for the situation. People need to protect themselves, so we don’t have a situation like they had in the south. We encourage them to buy guns and are helping them with registration, but nobody needs to panic.”
He added that the town is purchasing guns and ammunition “so we hopefully will be safer than they were down south.”
It is shocking to many that a nation with the history of Israel is not better prepared for violence on a local level, but that is rapidly changing. Residents are now told not to open their doors at night, to travel in groups and report anyone acting strangely.
One resident of Shomron, D’Vora Brand, is a mother of five officers and commanders in the IDF. One of her sons on the day of the Hamas attacks decided that local defenders needed ceramic vests, helmets, body armor and night vision. He took it as his personal quest to secure equipment for the area’s defense.
Brand said she has carried a gun ever since she was pregnant with the second of her nine children.
Gun registrations in the area are skyrocketing, and there is a growing understanding that more powerful weapons are needed.
Security volunteer Dror Madar spent six months serving in Gaza, and he declared that “we are prepared to take the first shot. But we need more equipment, vests and helmets. We can’t win a gunfight with a pistol if the terrorist is better armed than we are.”
There will be another military action against Israel — there always is. But the next one will certainly face a much more armed population that is ready to defend itself. No one must sell the value of gun rights in this country.
