Posted on 03/01/2018 2:56:58 PM PST by Ennis85
On February 14, a 19-year-old former student at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, walked into the school and opened fire, killing 17 students and teachers and wounding 14 more before his shooting spree was done. It was one of the deadliest shootings of its kind in modern American history.
The next morning, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, on a visit to Israel, tweeted, “Just waking up in Israel to news of heartbreaking school shooting in FL; Reminded that Israel pretty much eliminated it by placing highly trained people strategically to spot the one common thread–not the weapon, but a person with intent. #PrayForParkland”
The tweet was “liked” over 28,000 times and retweeted more than 10,000 times. It played into a recurring refrain on the American pro-gun right that sees in Israel an example of the American conservative’s ideal of a well-trained, heavily armed citizenry.
There’s just one problem: It isn’t true.
Israelis are well-armed, of course, but any similarity to conservative Americans masks a fundamental difference: In Israel, guns are tightly controlled and carefully tracked by the state.
Israelis must meet a detailed list of criteria (Hebrew link) to be allowed to own a firearm. They must ask the state for a license, are permitted only one gun at a time, and must even ask for permission to sell their gun. And the Firearms Licensing Department is no rubber stamp: Roughly 40 percent of requests are rejected.
Indeed, before even requesting a license, Israelis must meet minimum age requirements, be in good health and of sound mind, and have no criminal record, among other preconditions.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesofisrael.com ...
Lived there for years. Every Israeli supermarket had an armed guard, with untold thousands of Israelis openly carrying their weapons.
It’s true and false. Bluntly, it’s easy to get a weapon in Israel if you are a veteran/reservist. In fact, it’s government-supplied.
Not sure where they got the “one weapon” nonsense. I have a rifle (a select fire M4) and a 9MM Beretta. I am also in the reserves. Different rules apply in the outskirts of Judea/Samaria. There, shotguns are common for housewives.
The rules are in place, of course, because while 99% of Israeli Arabs are fantastic people — 1% of 20% is a lot of violent jihadi assholes.
They don’t serve in the IDF. Ergo, they don’t get a weapon.
It’s simply a different system. Yes, tightly controlled. But everyone that should have a weapon gets one.
Including school teachers.
Does Israel have a Second Amendment? If not, any comparison between the Israeli legal structure around firearms and America’s is specious.
“Does Israel have a Second Amendment?”
No, not really anything similar. It follows the English model (being that it was effectively run by England for some time before formation)
“Does Israel have a Second Amendment?”
No, not really anything similar. It follows the English model (being that it was effectively run by England for some time before formation)
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Not sure why it's a barf, Israel has highly restrictive gun laws. There is no individual right to be armed, permits are issued based on necessity, which Israel has a lot of. And with a preference toward toward LEO and military veterans where there's no direct necessity. As in living east of the green line in indian territory, being a bus or taxi driver or a security guard. It's not a model the US should emulate.
But there are a lot of firearms around, more than liberals in the US would tolerae, and the murder rate is lower than the US. Despite the number of firearms immediately available for use. Which though not an arguement for Israeli style ownership laws, is certainly an argument for an armed citizenry.
That's two. It made me giggle, on long trips I carry more than that in my van. It's just a different culture. Of course her in the US, to many liberals being a veteran makes you a greater risk. Not an indicator of responsibility. That's a different culture too. Not quite sure why the comparison needs to be made. If the issue is whether large numbers of armed individuals causes crime as some here would suggest, Israel like Switzerland proves it doesn't. As I'm sure you're aware, most military bases here are gun free.
Yes, the article misses the salient point. Having lots of guns around doesn't cause mass shootings, it prevents them. All the jabber about regulation is meant to distract from the main point, that the presence of firearms has the opposite effect of what the little child minds here in the US think.
Thank you. You have concisely summed up my point in very few words.
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