Commentary: Why Israel has lots of guns but few gun crimes (barf alert)

Chicago Tribune ^ | 30 june 2015 | Daniel Gordis

[rellimpank]

Early in 2002, as the Second Intifada was raging, guns — normally ubiquitous in Israeli society — were even more in evidence. In restaurants, at synagogue and especially on the street, you could see pistols stuck into men’s belts or pants. One of my wife’s closest friends kept a gun in her purse.

Those were dangerous times in Israel. More than once, legally armed civilians killed or wounded terrorists in places as seemingly benign as the grocery store. I decided that I, too, should probably get a gun license, and promptly went to the appropriate government office to apply. Obama says church shooting shows need for reckoning on guns Obama says church shooting shows need for reckoning on guns

I’d been told that I’d have to justify my “need” for the license, so I brought a copy of a New York Times Magazine piece that I’d written about the violence. I indicated that was I going to write more pieces like it and that to do so, I would need to go to places less secure than Jerusalem, where I lived. It was entirely true. I filled out a several-page form, and was told that were my application declined, I wouldn’t be allowed to apply again. I signed the form and turned it in.

[rellimpank]

--as would be expected, no discussion of the "racial" disparity in US vs. everywhere else when it comes to "gun" crime---

[WayneS]

I can’t read the whole piece unless I ‘sign up’ with the Chicago Tribune.

Oh well, I guess I won’t read the whole piece.

[rktman]

LOL! Well, the article did come from chigagoo trib where there are no guns and lots of crime. Oh, wait. There’s lots of guns and lots of crime. Baseball bats, machetes/knives, tire irons, meat cleavers etc, meh. Only guns make crimes serious apparently. If I were in Israel, I’d want to be armed too. If I was in nyc I’d want to be armed. Lot’s of places one may “need” to be armed but aren’t able to be. Of course the recent scotus 14th amendment ruling will make it legal to carry everywhere. Right? Guess not.

[rellimpank]

—what usually works for me is to put the headline in Google search , look for a ‘cached” copy and click on it—usually gets you by the “pay” or article limit-—

[WayneS]

Thanks. I’ll give it a try.

[Steely Tom]

Chicago, the city that sold its parking revenue stream for the next 75 years to Morgan Stanley for $1.2B, then spent the money in a few months, then tried to welch on the deal in court by suing, and lost.

And I'm supposed to take their newspaper's opinion seriously?

[Voice of Reason1]

Why Israel has lots of guns but few gun crimes.

Isn't it TFO [Totally Freaking Obvious] why that is the case?
Are those people on the nation's socialist-left too deleted uranium dense to understand why this is the case?

It's much like this from the New York Slimes:

Trillions Spent, but Crises Like Greece’s Persist

Do those people fail to comprehend the stunningly obvious point they are working over time to NOT understand?

[School of Rational Thought]

a pointless article.

Writes about horrific attacks in Israel by nut cases but says its different in Israel than US nut case attacks because Israelis don’t have rights.

But bottom line both countries have horrific attacks by nut cases. Pointless

[The Toll]

Because we haven’t had our holocaust yet.

[jjotto]

Daniel Gordis is another Dick Morris; wrong about everything.

Kudos to Israel for understanding this non-threatening male should not be allowed to have a gun.

[TribalPrincess2U]

There’s several stories about this in Startpage search.

It’s never easy to get the true story.

[archy]

I’d been told that I’d have to justify my “need” for the license, so I brought a copy of a New York Times Magazine piece that I’d written about the violence. I indicated that was I going to write more pieces like it and that to do so, I would need to go to places less secure than Jerusalem, where I lived. It was entirely true. I filled out a several-page form, and was told that were my application declined, I wouldn’t be allowed to apply again. I signed the form and turned it in.

Funny he had that problem; I once had something similar occur.

When I returned to Israel for my second visit around the end of the 1970s, I was treated to a tour of the country by my best friend's sister, with whom I had nothing particularly romantic going, though she delighted in trying to fix me up with one of her chen galpals.

A decade or so later when I applied for a license to carry a handgun in Memphis, one of the questions on the form was the usual one about if I had ever been convicted of a felony, or other crime involving a weapon. And, since I honestly checked that block yes, I had to go to the great big area where I had to give the details, court case number, outcome, etc,etc,etc and describe the circumstances. I did so.

Caught by Israeli military police in a mandatory carry weapons area with my girlfriend, we both thought the other had their shooter that day. The fine was three Israeli pounds, at that time equal to $3.00 US.

Her usual carry piece was her Uzi, which she routinely carried in a gym bag, which bag she had with her that day, but no buzzgun inside. I was at the time usually carrying an old WWII Browing 9mm GP *High Power* pistol with a detatchable holster/stock, which I regularly carried unattached, the handgun carried *Mexican Carry*-style crossdraw down the left side of my bluejeans or fatigue pants, with my t-shirt over the belt...which she figured I had on as usual. Ooops.

I got my Tennessee carry license okay.

The last three times I've been in Israel, I've carried EVERYWHERE. And almost always also had a real noisy backup with me as well.

[Pollster1]

http://mmc-news.com/why-israel-has-lots-of-guns-but-few-gun-crimes-23400.html