Israel’s gun control laws can make the US safer, too
Israel has some really, really strict gun control laws-- much stricter than ours:
Israel exists under constant threat of attack — and requires citizens to serve in the military — but still has much stricter gun laws than the United States.
And those laws limit violence.
Israel has a lower gun-related homicide rate — and that’s not because it’s an intrinsically peaceful society.
In fact, public health literature suggests that if Israel had more guns, it would have more firearm deaths.
Even those Israelis who pass through extensive hoops to get a firearm permit can only own one gun. And that’s a handgun — not a semi-automatic rifle capable of rapid fire. There are also limits on ammunition.
Forty percent of all gun permit applicants are flat-out rejected by the Israeli government.
The US has one firearm per capita, the highest in the world; Israel comes in 81st with 0.073 firearms per capita.
Tags
Who is online
71 visitors
Israel's Arab citizens make up over 20% of the population! While the vast majority are not militant,. many are. And there are constant attempts at large scale massacres of Israeli citizens by this small minority. But large gun massacres have been mainly non-existent.
Every so often I read of an attack by an armed crazy. But usually there are zero deaths--or maybe 1. Why? Because the weapons used are knives...they can't get their hands on a gun. (And certainly not military guns such as the AR-15 or Israeli assault rifles).
Even those Israelis who pass through extensive hoops to get a firearm permit can only own one gun.
And that’s a handgun — not a semi-automatic rifle capable of rapid fire.
There are also limits on ammunition.
So, what does that mean for us here in the USA? What's a realistic workable solution.
I don't think there IS a solution for the USA. I think it's too late - there is such a proliferation of guns and of gun advocates, and a Second Amendment, and a powerful NRA - I think you're doomed.
Probably right.
There's another aspect to this that isn't often discussed.
Israelis take the threat of violence serriously. For stasrters, amny wedre immigrants from Arab land where they experienced pogroms (race riots) encouraged by the governments-- they know that anti-Semitic violence can be very real.
In addition, many come from families that have lived in Israel for centuries-- and been subject to horrific vilent attacks since long before the modern state of Israel was established.
Then there have been horrifically brutal attacks on Jews from time to time.
What does this all mean? They take the threats seriously-- up until recently most Americans didn't.
I used to travel a lot. And have made trips to Israel and Egypt.
Perhaps things have changed at American airports. But often I've seen people complaining and getting annoyed at security checks at airports.
But in Israel,for the most people, when a security agent checks them-- for example asks them to open a bag at airports-- the reaction is quite different than that of Americans. Most of them smile at the security guard and say a sincere "Thank you"!
Why? Because they know the threat of violence by Arab "militants" is real. Because of that attitude, airline security there as well as by other law enforcement gets a lot of support-- Israelis act as if their lives depends upon it!
(And armed law enforcement there doesn't habitually wait safely outside when there are at the scene of a shooting...the Isrtaelis wouldn't tolerate that).
The first time I flew to Israel it was on El Al, and in the waiting room (which was separated from other waiting rooms) at Pearson airport in Toronto was a young man carrying a small gym bag, whom I noted was observing all the people in the area. At one point he had a small conference with a couple of uniformed airport security men, and it was pretty obvious to me that the young man was an Israeli security agent, and I would be willing to bet that there was an Uzi inside that gym bag. El Al airplanes do not shimmy up to the usual tubular gates, but ALWAYS stay out on the tarmac. As well, the profiling technique used by the inspecting security people for El Al at the ticketing area have a lot to teach to other airlines.
Ever notice how only Americans seem to think that this epidemic cannot be solved by much tighter firearm regulation and that the only solution is more guns? Also, I doubt it is coincidence that America is the only developed nation on the planet with a gun violence epidemic like the one we have.
They simply found another way to skin the cat. They use bombs instead of guns.
And the bad guys have come up with a new weapon....it's called a truck. They drive it at high speed into crowds of people.
And still have significantly fewer deaths from that than we do from firearms. In fact the numbers are not even remotely close.
That’s because the entire population of the country is only eight and a half million people and we have over three hundred million.
Come on Dean. You know better than that. Statistics are based on proper comparisons, such as so many per 100,000 population. The statistics tell the story, not the total population.
Yes I’m aware of that but was replying to a comment that did not say rate only total number. Sure the murder rate with guns will be lower if the weapon of choice is bombs over there and statistics from bombing deaths are not included.
How many deaths in total over the years, have their been in the U.S. from trucks driving into crowds? (I'm trying to determine if this sort of attack is a trend in the U.S.-- or is such an attack "an outlier"...???
Of course the total number is lower in an extremely country such as Israel. (Using your argument, you could also safely state that there are fewer gun deaths in Andorra, Lichenstein, Uruguay, etc than in the U.S...."accidentally" forgetting to mention their tiny populations).
But I wonder if you are so uninformed that you believe comparing two countries of vastly different sizes (population) is valid. Rather, what counts is the frequency-- the percentages!!! (Chicago has a low number of gun deaths-- compared to North America!!! LOL)
(Are you really that naive--or are you faking it? (Ill give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you are not trying to deceive us but rather your comment is based solely on ignorance).).
Its the rate that is relevant:
The gun death rate in Israel is low by international standards: about two homicides per 100,000 people in Israel, according to Arye Rattner, a criminologist at the University of Haifa. Some years in the United States the rate has been four or five times higher.
Also, note: there is a common misconception about how Israel protects itswelf fron Gun violence:
Licensed commercial security firms guard schools; contrary to some perceptions, armed civilians have not been deployed as school guards on a large scale since the 1970s.
In the year 2000 I actually witnessed one of those bus bombings happening in Jerusalem. Fortunately since that time the security barrier that was constructed has stopped most of those things from happening, but not the Passover Massacre in Netanya, where I saw the devastation in the Park Hotel and interviewed the doctors who had to deal with the carnage. I also experienced having to run to a bomb shelter to protect myself from Hezbollah bombs. Both my son and my daughter are still alive only due to the grace of God since they were both lucky to narrowly escape being blown to bits in separate incidents in Israel.
Some NT members wonder why I have an attitude about Palestinians.
Probably the same reason a lot of them have an attitude towards you. Neither side is blameless.
Towards ME? Well, the difference is that I haven't murdered anyone, or tried to murder anyone. Let's not forget that.
WTF?
To my knowledge, Buzz himself has actually been the perpetrator of very few terrorist attacks-- probably only a handful. (Perhaps as few as 4 or 5..???).
So that hardly justifies people having that attitude towards him!
Oh, of course, Krishna. I'm in hiding in China because of all the terrorist acts I've committed. LOL
Do you actually know what the date is of that photo?
The earliest date I've seen for it is 2008.
Yes, "they" have:
Excuse me Krishna, but perhaps you (as did almost everybody else) missed this article I posted four days ago.
If only the US had sensible gun control laws like the civilized nations do...
If would be nice if you could define what a "sensible" gun law is. We've already got hundreds of gun laws
Banning civilian possession of weapons of war would be a good start
The Wild West was tamed because guns ended up having gun free zones. Bartenders put up signs telling patrons to check their guns, they were sick of the gun violence.
As the country became settled, people were allowed their guns but taking them places like church or in polite society, guns became a no-no.
I will never understand why the NRA will not allow guns at it's meetings, politicians will not allow guns in their own workplace, politicians support no guns other than law enforcement in the courtrooms and public buildings in America, but then in totally hypocritical fashion leave the masses to fend for ourselves on the issue because we cannot protect ourselves the way the wealthy can in gated communities or private schools.
These gun lobbyists and right wing politicians just want to flood America with a saturation of guns and send "hopes and prayers".
They get to do that because they are wealthy, live in gated communities, have gun free zone workplaces, and could care less what happens to the lowly masses they are supposed to represent.
That includes all those wealthy Democrats and other left wing types.
I totall understand it-- it seems quite obvious to me!
Israel likes to portray themselves as too freaking stupid to protect themselves so they can pick our pockets to pay for their defense.
Oh, thank you Dean. I'm adding you to my list of Israel-bashers. Thanks for not hiding it.
Oh, by the way, here are some examples of what happens with the money stolen from the USA by those criminal pick-pocketing Jews in Israel:
You must be aware that Israel spends a big majority percentage of the multi-billion dollar military aid package (and Israel only gets military aid) back in the USA which maintains thousands of jobs in the USA.
Every week or so there's some new things like these:
How about we compare what benefits the USA gets from its aid to Israel with the benefits from VIRTUALLY EVERY OTHER AIDED COUNTRY?