Rabbi Kurtz's congregation isn't in Chicago, it's in souther Lake county, in a very affluent area. Trust me, not only are the grocery shelves stockes, but the botiques are well stocked as well. He's a good guy, and the JP might have put a slightly innacurate spin on his comments, though maybe not.
A point you miss is that here in America, affluent America, children attending school, Hebrew school, need to be guarded. Not just Beth El, but most Congregations which can afford it. Sabbath services, security, of course. Holidays, in many cases security is in uniform.
Off hours, lots of Synagogues you enter through security, sometimes bullet proof glass entryways.
And this is nothing new, it predates 9/11
Imagine if every Christian Sunday school in America required armed guards, LEOs guarding the doors at Sunday services. The jihadist threat would be history. It's coming
Left out, the good news in Illinois, a radical like me would be a felon should I wish to be armed.
We have something similar, though low-key, over here. My son has three teachers in his class. Two females, and one male. On outings, the male teachers packs heat. I think he has it with him always when on school grounds, but whenever they leave the grounds, he’s an armed escort and keeps it on him and in plain view, to act as a deterrent. Bus drivers do the same, and so do many residents of J&S, just on general principle.