While this entry started with Jews as the sole subject, an article recently came to my attention titled A look at attacks on houses of worship over last decade (https://tinyurl.com/y6sqkp35)
Prehaps what applies to us may apply to others, too.
IT SEEMS IT IS “OPEN SEASON” ON Jews and the “hunters” go where they can find their prey.
Synagogues, kosher markets, Jewish schools, kosher restaurants, all places where Jews congregate.
Jews are not known as the type people to carry weapons of self-defense. Lots of rabbis (foolishly) prohibit firearms in the synagogues, etc.
In the interest of being politically correct, “cops” will be referred to as “LEO”s or Law Enforcement Officers. This is an umbrella term covering sworn officers, from the municipal to federal level.
Is anyplace safe?
In a word: NO.
Do Jews need to be alert for any easily-identifiable threat, e.g., skinheads, Muslim “extremists,” neo-nazis, militant blacks.
Again, in a word: YES.
But they also must be alert for those folks who are “just plain crazy.”
I live in a “gated community” in south Florida.
The subdivision has more than 400 residences. Of that number, perhaps 70% are owned and occupied by Jews. Not all are observant, to be sure, but recall the nazis didn’t make a distinction between observant and non-observant Jews — for the nazis then and today’s Jew haters, a Jew is a Jew is a Jew . . . and, therefore, a target.
Sometimes the person is not necessarily a Jew hater; the person can just be mentally incompetent — crazy. We recently had an “event” in the subdivision where a father and his children were at one of the lakes (retention ponds) when an elderly woman threatened the man and his children with a gun. The man, who had a concealed weapon permit, showed her he, too, had a firearm and she retreated. The local LEOs came, but in the end, nothing was done to prevent recurrence.
Armed and dangerous
There are two problems with the average Jew carrying a firearm.
One: The person — women can shoot, too — needs to practice until they are proficient with the weapon.
That means
Meeting the requirements to own and carry a firearm
Practicing at a gun range to assure the person can hit the target
Knowing when, and — more importantly, when not — to draw the weapon.
These are three measurable things that can be practiced.
The “crunch” comes — and no one knows until the final second — when it is time to point the gun at a threat and shoot the threat.
A recent event in south Florida that made the network news had four people killed in a gun battle between LEOs and two robbers in a stolen UPS truck.
It’s still being sorted out, but the question is ”Whose bullets killed the UPS driver and an innocent bystander? The robbers or the LEOs." Hundreds of rounds were fired.
Is it safe to assume that the LEOs were all highly trained marksmen?
Back to the one-word response: NO, at least in the opinion of my son the LEO. One of his sergeants IS a sharpshooter, but most LEOs in my son’s department are not as accomplished.
The obvious question locally is: “Why didn’t the local LEOs wait for sharpshooters to “take out” the robbers?” The initial response was the local LEOs were afraid what did happen — innocents shot — would happen so someone gave the order to open fire and not wait for the sharpshooters. Hindsight confirms that was a mistake.
On the other hand
Jews who ARE proficient with sidearms AND are legally permitted to carry a firearm, should be allowed to carry a firearm in any place Jews congregate: synagogues, kosher markets, Jewish schools, kosher restaurants, etc.
While some states have open carry laws — the firearm is exposed for all to see — unless the person is a guard, my preference would be concealed carry.
I’ve always wondered, when I enter a building with a sign posted on the entrance (right) stating NO FIREARMS ALLOWED (or words to that effect) if a person bent on murder will abide by the prohibition and, if the person enters and injures (or kills) me, can I or my survivors sue the property owners and occupants for failing to allow me to defend myself. (I am not a lawyer and I don’t play one on tv.)
For too long Jews — particularly European Jews — have had a well-deserved reputation of ignoring the reality of Jewish hatred wherever they live.
For far too long Jews — particularly European Jews — have been in the pockets of leftists who care not a whit for Jews.
As we approach Hanukah 5780 — first wick after dark on Sunday, December 22 — perhaps it is time to give more than just a nod to the Maccabees of old.
We used to be fighters, even if we failed to win EVERY battle.
Jabotinsky ’s Jews were fighters.
The Jews of the Warsaw ghetto were fighters.
The Jews of the Irgun and Stern (LEHI) were fighters.
THE ONLY WAY TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST JEWS IS TO SHOW THE JEW-HATERS THAT WE WILL FIGHT BACK.
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