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At the Washington Times: Second Amendment matters in a time of crisis: The importance of good guys w

John Lott - Crime Prevention Research Center | Published on 1/12/2024
Hamas attacked as Israelis were wrapping up the seven-day-long Jewish festival of Sukkot on October 7th. As many as 1,200 Israelis and some Americans were murdered, thousands wounded, and hundreds more taken hostage. Hamas terrorists went into civilian areas and attacked defenseless people who were walking down the street or shopping in stores.

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A Sept. 20 Jerusalem Post headline prophetically warned: “Israelis should carry guns on Yom Kippur, police say.” But as of 2022, only 148,000 Israelis carried permitted guns in public for protection – just 3% of the adult, Jewish population. Twenty years earlier, more than 10% of adult Jews had permits.

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Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called the recent police statement “dangerous.” He echoed sentiments common among Democrats in the United States: “Calling the citizens of Israel to come with weapons to the synagogue on Yom Kippur is not a security policy, it is dangerous populism.”

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Concealed carry is now much more widespread in t