Jerusalem, New York, and Guns

As the Supreme Court gets ready to rule in what could become a landmark Second Amendment case over a strict New York gun ownership law, the Justices might want to pause to ask for an amicus brief from the prime minister of Israel. For it turns out that New York isn’t the only place with a rash of attacks on innocent civilians by gun-toting thugs. Israel, too, is in the midst of just such a crisis.So what has Prime Minister Naftali Bennett just done? He’s called on everyone with a gun license to carry his weapon. This occurred in a nationwide broadcast Wednesday evening. The premier spoke after an attack Tuesday. In it five persons were slain by a terrorist. The killer was armed, police were quoted by the Associated Press as reporting, with an assault rifle and fired on persons passing by before he himself was killed by police.It was the third recent attack of its kind. On Wednesday, Mr. Bennett reported that the Shin Bet, Israel’s defense forces, and the police have all increased intelligence operations. The aim is to reach attackers before they carry out attacks, the Jerusalem Post reported. “From my end, there is no limit to the resources that we can dedicate to this,” Mr. Bennett said, adding that trained soldiers would take their weapons home on weekends.This is the context in which Mr. Bennett urged all Israeli citizens to “be alert” and added: “Whoever has a weapons license, this is the time to carry it.” It strikes us as a welcome and confident piece of advice. And we can’t help but wonder why President Biden and our governors and mayors aren’t asking citizens with gun licenses to holster up the better to be able to defend themselves — and even others — in these dangerous times.Not to be sarcastic here. We understand that Mr. Biden isn’t going to ask Americans to carry their weapons. He doesn’t have it in him. Same with, say, Governor Hochul. Yet, what an astounding situation. Israel is a country in want of a written constitution of the type America has. It is bereft of a Bill of Rights and lacks a Second Amendment. Yet it actively encourages its citizens with gun permits to carry.What a contrast with those parts of America that are governed by the Democratic Party. We have a Second Amendment, heralded by, in St. George Tucker, one of our greatest jurists, as the “palladium of our liberty.” Yet New York and, say, California, another Democratic state, refuse to grant even their most law-abiding citizens a permit to carry a gun. Not even in cities where the police are failing to quell the gun violence.And to what end? Israel’s homicide rate is less than a third of America’s. Research by a professor at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, Hillel Frisch, finds Jerusalem, roughly San Francisco’s size, has about half the murders in any given year. Jerusalem’s murder rate ran to roughly four per 100,000 residents in the two decades before 2018. Compare that to St. Louis, with nearly 65 murders per 100,000 residents, or Baltimore, with 58 murders per 100,000 denizens. Mr. Bennett framed his suggestion to carry a firearm as a shared duty to maintain public safety. “The secret of our existence,” he said, “is the mutual responsibility among us.” The spirit of his remarks calls to mind an oft-cited observation by the head of America’s National Rifle Association, Wayne LaPierre: “The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” The NRA may well want to set up a branch office at Jerusalem.

Jerusalem, New York, and Guns

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