Category: Self Defense

Second Amendment matters in a time of crisis
The importance of good guys with guns

Hamas attacked as Israelis were wrapping up the seven-day Jewish festival of Sukkot on Oct. 7. 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.

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 in Israel had permits.

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.”

Concealed carry is much more widespread in the United States than in Israel. In 2022, 8.5% of American adults had permits. Outside of the restrictive states of California and New York, about 10.2% of adults had permits. And these numbers don’t even account for the fact that there are now 27 constitutional carry states where it isn’t necessary to have a permit to carry.

California, with one of the lowest concealed handgun permit rates and the strictest gun control laws in the country, shouldn’t hold itself out as a model for the rest of the country to follow. The periods after 2000, 2010 and 2020 show a consistent pattern: California’s per capita rate of public shootings is always much greater than in the rest of the country.

On Sunday Oct. 8, the day after the attack, Israel radically changed its policy on who could carry guns publicly. “Today, I directed the Firearms Licensing Division to go on an emergency operation in order to allow as many citizens as possible to arm themselves. The plan will take effect within 24 hours,” Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir posted on X.

In response to terrorist attacks for decades, Israel put more police and military to protect people, but they found that no matter how much money they spent, they couldn’t cover all the possible targets.

Before Israel began letting civilians carry handguns in the 1970s, terrorists committed attacks in Israel almost entirely with machine guns. Afterward, terrorists usually used bombs.

The reason was simple: Armed citizens can quickly immobilize a gun-wielding attacker, but no one can respond to a bomber once the bomb explodes. Still, armed citizens have occasionally succeeded in preventing bombings.

Like their Israeli counterparts, American police recognize their own limitations.

“A deputy in uniform has an extremely difficult job in stopping these attacks,” said Sarasota County, Florida, Sheriff Kurt Hoffman. “These terrorists have huge strategic advantages in determining the time and place of attacks. They can wait for a deputy to leave the area or pick an undefended location. Even when police or deputies are in the right place at the right time, those in uniform who can readily identify as guards may as well be holding up neon signs saying, ‘Shoot me first.’ My deputies know that we cannot be everywhere.”

Police1, the largest private organization for law enforcement officers, surveyed its 749,000 members and found that 86% of them believed that casualties from mass public school shootings could be reduced or “avoided altogether” if citizens had carried permitted concealed handguns in public places. An incredible 94% of mass public shootings occur in places where civilians are banned from having guns.

And 77% of Police1 members supported “arming teachers and/or school administrators who volunteer to carry at their school.” No other policy to protect children and school staff received such widespread support.

When a life-threatening crisis strikes, there might not be time for police to arrive. Amid such a massive assault by Hamas, it was simply impossible for the Israeli police and military to protect all civilians.

Unfortunately, some lessons are learned the hard way. If only more Israelis had been armed at the time of the attack, more of them would be alive today.

Resident acts in self-defense, shoots man in Laurens Co

GRAY COURT, S.C. (FOX Carolina) – The Laurens County Sheriff’s Office a man is dead following an altercation in Gray Court on Monday.

According to the sheriff’s office, deputies went to Barnyard Road in reference to someone being shot. Upon arrival, deputies immediately rendered aid to the individual.

After investigating, deputies said it was determined that there was ongoing threatening behavior and domestic issues occurring the gunshot victim and other individuals living in the area prior to the incident.

Deputies said on Monday, the gunshot victim was on the property and presented himself in a menacing and threatening manner with a weapon. The subject did not comply with the resident’s request to vacate the premises and did continue towards the resident, attempting to tackle him to the ground.

Officials said at this time, the resident did fear for his life and protected himself by acting in self-defense. For this reason, no charges are filed.

The gunshot victim passed away from his injuries at the hospital. He was identified by the Laurens County Coroner’s Office as David Dale Arrington of Gray Court.

I’m often stunned by what it takes to get some people to open their eyes and decide they need to provide for their own defense.

S. Florida Jewish Community Arming Up After Hamas Attack in Israel

The Hamas attack in Israel has set of alarms within the Jewish community in southern Florida, according to WPLG News, and many people in that community are buying guns and signing up for training courses.

Concerns may not be lessened by President Joe Biden’s trip to Israel or his planned speech to the nation Thursday evening.

The report reinforces an article in AmmoLand News, which focused on the fact that U.S. citizens might provide an obstacle to such terrorism in this country because the Second Amendment protects their right to be armed. There is no such right in Israel, and some leading advocates want gun regulations relaxed.

The Daily Caller quotes firearms retailer David Kowalsky who notes many of his new clients are “Israeli and Orthodox Jews.”

“Just wanting to be trained to protect their families and have a firearm at home or on their person,” he said. “Since last Saturday we have seen a tremendous public display of how prevalent anti-Semitism is and hate speech and how they want to rid the world of Jews.”

That appears to be true, as demonstrations around the U.S. sympathetic to Palestinians, and critical of Israeli counterattacks in Gaza, have been reported.

According to the WPLG report, “Dozens of South Florida gun shops and shooting ranges are seeing a spike in gun sales and a desire to train since Israel was ambushed by Hamas terrorists.”

Over the weekend, FBI Director Christopher Wray was “ominously warning there is a rising number of terror threats against the US — and that the biggest concern involves potential lone wolves,” according to a story in the New York Post.

WPLG quoted a Jewish woman identified as Endi Tennenhaus, who said “most of the men in her synagogue” were in the process of arming themselves.

“We said, ‘What about the women?’ We need to do the things we need to do to prepare,” Tennenhaus told a reporter. “To stay safe and to be able to use a gun, God forbid if we ever should need one.”

The report noted many Jewish women had been buying guns, as well as men, and the women were taking firearms training.

Kowalsky’s gun store is providing additional classes to meet the demand.

Florida is one of the 27 states where permitless carry is now legal. But the Jewish community appears strongly interested in the kind of training that goes beyond mere safety in the home.

In Israel, when Hamas terrorists attacked starting with a music festival—killing hundreds of people in the process—nobody was armed. In southern Florida, it is evident members of the Jewish community will not allow that to happen here.

Kokomo homeowner reportedly shoots, kills man breaking into home

KOKOMO, Ind. — A man is dead after he was shot by a homeowner when he broke into their house on Sunday evening.

According to a news release from the Kokomo Police Department, a homeowner near the intersection of East Jackson Street and North Purdum Street called 911 and told them he had shot a man who had broken into his home around 8:44 p.m. on Sunday.

When police responded to the home, officials said they located a man, identified by police as 51-year-old Scott Elliot Jones, with a gunshot wound in the front door area of the home. The release said that the homeowner told police he was asleep in the home when he was awakened by Jones in the living room.

The release said that the homeowner attempted to get Jones to leave his home when Jones reportedly attacked the homeowner. Officials said the homeowner then discharged his weapon at the man.

Officials said that the homeowner was treated for minor abrasions and bruising from the altercation. The Howard County Coroner’s Office is assisting with the investigation, according to the release, and an autopsy is being scheduled.

The release said that the case will be forwarded to the Howard County Prosecutor’s Office for a “review of all findings at the completion of the investigation.” If individuals have any information about the case, they are asked to contact Detective Dustin Spicer at (765) 456-7194.

Poll Shocker: Majority of Young People Say Guns Make Homes Safer

The Guardian is reporting what amounts to a stunning revelation of research supported by the anti-gun Joyce Foundation which says—probably to the foundation’s chagrin—an overwhelming majority of young people (76%) say gun ownership “makes a home safer.”

Anti-gunners have been insisting for years that guns in the home make families less safe.

The same 2019 study said 42 percent of boys and men in the 13-21 age group expect to own a firearm at some point, after years of efforts to convince the younger generation to avoid gun ownership. The survey results may be viewed here.

Another report, from the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL), supported by Everytown for Gun Safety and the Southern Poverty Law Center, also produced some interesting findings which included:

  • While youth think that gun violence is a problem, they think it flows from the actions of individuals, especially those they perceive as “criminal,” “irresponsible,” “mentally ill” or “bad.” These descriptions tend to be racialized and classed.
  • Youth separate legitimate and illegitimate uses of guns. “Legitimate” uses include protection (e.g., against “home invaders”), hunting and target shooting.
  • Youth perceptions of safety are also racialized, classed and shaped by ideologies surrounding geography and folk-theories about urban-rural differences.
  • Youth from rural areas perceive guns as a ‘fact of life’. Geographical regions are used as shorthand for particular community relations to guns/gun violence.
  • Young, white, cisgender boys/men are frequently introduced to gun use through gendered bonding activities like hunting with fathers, grandfathers and friends.

The Guardian report tends to negatively portray the notion of gun ownership, which perhaps unintentionally exhibits the viewpoints of people who dislike firearms ownership. The story quotes Kelly Drane, research director at the Giffords Law Center, who acknowledges, “Gun ownership has diversified dramatically.”

More women and minorities are buying guns, and according to the Guardian article—referring to the PERIL study—the reason Latinos and Asian Americans are buying firearms is because they are concerned about “the increased threat of racist extremism.”

The PERIL study also showed that about one-third of youths under age 18 “believe they are safer with guns than without them.”

“Arm yourself, because no one else here will save you.”

When Hamas Attacked, This Israeli Kibbutz Fought Back and Won

At 6:56 a.m. on Oct. 7, Moshe Kaplan sent an urgent alert to his volunteer security force in Mefalsim, a kibbutz of 1,000 men, women and children in southern Israel where he served as security chief.
“There’s a shooting in the village from the gate!” he texted after militants fired at his car as he drove past the main entrance. Attackers later blew open a pedestrian gate nearby with explosives and flooded into the kibbutz.
Kaplan rushed home to grab his armored vest, helmet and M16 rifle, then drove off to check another gate on the northwest corner. There he found armed men were already inside the razor-wire security fence that encircled the community.
“Terrorists in the kibbutz! Terrorists in the kibbutz!” he yelled in a second, panicked voice text, begging his men to hurry. Gunshots sounded in the background. He had trained a dozen men for this moment, a surprise attack from nearby Gaza. Yet 19 minutes after his first alert, none had arrived.
Kaplan left his car and shot at assailants from behind a metal garbage container. One lobbed a hand grenade at him. In a stroke of luck for him and Mefalsim, it didn’t explode.
More than two dozen Hamas fighters from Gaza had arrived with orders to subdue the small security force and herd hostages into the community dining hall. They carried a detailed map of the kibbutz and, like other assault teams in southern Israel that morning, an attack plan labeled “top secret.”
Mefalsim was one place that day where nothing for the Hamas attackers went according to plan.

Continue reading “”

“Protection” Cited As No. 1 Reason For Gun Buys, As 911 Delays Increase

Twenty-six percent of participants in a 1999 Pew Research survey who owned a gun said protection was the primary reason they exercised their Second Amendment rights. By 2013, the figure jumped to 48 percent. Results in 2017 indicated it climbed yet again, up to two-thirds, and this year’s results, released in late August, are higher—72 percent.

It’s a tidal change in attitude that began with the Y2K bug and apparently continues after the widespread violence and social unrest that plagued the COVID 19 pandemic. The dramatic increase in the time it takes first responders to arrive, regardless of where you live or affluence of the community, is one of the diving factors. Seconds count when an attacker is at the door, in your face or on a loved one.

Volume of 911 calls is a driving factor, but there’s another. Law-enforcement officers are leaving the job in record numbers and young adults, who might otherwise enroll in an academy and soon work a beat, succumb to the fashionably inaccurate perception of the profession. As a result, applicants across the nation continue to decline, and those who pass the stringent requirements don’t fill vacancies fast enough.

In April ABC News warned, “Police departments across the country are facing a ‘vicious cycle’ of retirements, resignations and fewer hires, according to policing experts, leaving the communities they protect with understaffed departments and potentially underqualified officers.”

One study found 911 response time in New Orleans nearly tripled from 2019 to 2022. The same report found New York’s figures jumped from 18 minutes to 33 minutes. For comparison, Big Apple law enforcement response time in 1999 was 10.3 minutes, according to the New York Times.

In Nashville, Tenn., Metro Police averaged 73 minutes to respond in 2022. Urgent calls are life-threatening and tracked separately when they come into emergency dispatch. According to a February report from WSMV4 TV—an NBC affiliate in Nashville, Tenn.—“…response time for emergency calls increased from 10.7 minutes to 15 minutes, in the last three years.” Four minutes, 18 seconds seems like the blink of an eye when at work, it’s eternity when a family member is attacked.

The nation’s capital isn’t immune either. WTOP News there found residents experienced an additional 90-second delay in response to Priority 1 [the most urgent] calls to 911 just in the 12 months of 2021.

The numbers make it obvious. More law-abiding citizens than before understand owning a firearm and training are the best way to survive, especially when seconds count, and police are minutes away.

Female homeowner shoots alleged home invasion robber in Hollywood Hills

LOS ANGELES – A female homeowner in the Hollywood Hills took matters into her own hands after someone attempted to break into her home, authorities said.

An official with the Los Angeles Police Department said the shooting was reported just before 9:30 p.m. Sunday in the 2800 block of Hollyridge Drive in the Beachwood Canyon community.

The homeowner told LAPD investigators she first saw the suspect in her backyard before he made his way to one of her doors and attempted forcible entry. She asked the suspect to leave, but he apparently refused.

She continued to feel threatened after the suspect reached into his pocket and she thought he was getting out a weapon. That’s when the homeowner opened fire and struck the suspect. He was taken to an area hospital where he remains in critical condition.

The homeowner has not been detained in the shooting.

No further information was immediately available and the investigation is ongoing.

AIDAN JOHNSTON: Israel Needs A Second Amendment

A day after Hamas terrorists paraglided across the border from Gaza into Israel, trucked machine gun-toting killers into a music festival, mowed down families and took women, children, and grandmothers hostage, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced a series of actions to loosen Israel’s strict gun control laws.

The minister announced his intent to “allow as many citizens as possible to arm themselves and protect themselves and their environment when necessary.”

Of course, with videos of terrorists kicking in doors in an Israeli village near the border and desecrating the dead bodies of babies and teenagers, it’s not hard to understand why someone would make such a decision. And as an American, I can confidently say our Founding Fathers sure understood.

The individual right of the people to keep and bear arms is “necessary to the security of a free state.”

But as the death toll rises and terrorists are still on the loose, one must also ask: is the Israeli government doing too little, too late?

Just after Russia invaded Ukraine, the country repealed its gun control laws, enacted a national right to carry and started passing out machine guns.

Ukraine waited until after it was invaded by a nuclear world superpower, and we asked the same question.

Lucky for Ukrainians, the remarkable shift in firearms policy helped the country hang on while the United States and other allies prepared military aid.

While Israel is also purchasing thousands of machine guns and handing them out now, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spent the last few years confiscating guns from local civilian security forces.

So, while Hamas terrorists invaded with machine guns, grenades and missiles, these Israeli gun owners were forced to fight back with only a single handgun and 50 rounds of ammunition each.

According to one gun owner, “the IDF took our rifles recently, they left us with just a few. We repelled a Hamas commando terror cell with just pistols.”

Gun control left self-defenders outgunned while hundreds of completely disarmed Israelis were tortured, raped and murdered by vicious terrorists in this surprise attack.

And while the new changes in Israel’s Firearms Licensing Division are intended to help self-defenders held up by bureaucracy and paperwork, Gun Owners of America found the application portal offline and “unavailable,” leaving only a message from the National Forms Service stating “we apologize for the inconvenience.”

Even if the website worked, a newly eligible applicant would still have “to undergo a telephone interview” and may have to wait up to “a week” for approval.

Continue reading “”

Cautionary Tale in an Alabama Forest: When in a Gunfight, Don’t Hesitate

On August 14, 2022, Adam Simjee and his longtime girlfriend, Mikayla Paulus, were on a road trip through wild Alabama country before returning to college.

They decided to help a woman who appeared to have had a vehicle breakdown. The woman, Yasmine Hider, was planning to rob them or worse. Adam was a dedicated Second Amendment supporter. He had tucked a concealed pistol in his waistband because he was suspicious of the circumstances. After Adam and Mikayla had been working on the broke-down vehicle for an hour without success, Hider pulled out a handgun and ordered them to drop their cell phones, empty their pockets, and give up their bank and cell phone passwords. Then she marched them into the forest. Adam waited for an opportunity to draw his firearm.

In situations such as this, the assailant is often momentarily distracted. From abc3340.com:

“Adam had his gun on him the whole time because he said, ‘This is how people get robbed,’” she said, “So I was just waiting on him to use it.”

Paulus described what happened next, “Adam pulled out his gun and told her to get on the ground and that’s when she started messing around with her gun. It jammed once but they both shot at each other and she was shot a few times and he was shot only once.”

 Law and Crime supply a few more details. From Law and Crime:

At one point, HIDER looked away and lowered her guard, Victim #1 pulled his pistol from his waistband and ordered HIDER to drop her weapon. HIDER said, “Are you serious?” She cocked her gun and started firing, and Victim # 1 returned fire simultaneously while falling to the ground. While on the ground, Victim #1 said, “You shot me,” and fired one last time at HIDER. After the shooting stopped, HIDER said, “Why did you shoot? It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”

In situations where someone has the drop on you and is momentarily distracted, there is a limited time for your action to beat their reaction, in the neighborhood of 3/4 of a second.

In this case, there seems to have been a little more time, as Hider is said to have answered Adam Simjee and taken some action with her firearm before both started to fire.

When someone threatens your life, conversing with them is not a good idea. This has been acknowledged in popular movies. In The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Tuco says, “When you have to shoot, shoot, don’t talk.”

John Wayne, in The Shootist, says his advantage is he does not hesitate when it is time to shoot, essentially saying: most men hesitate. I don’t. Clip from The Shootist: Most men aren’t willing.

Adam Simjee showed good tactical awareness by waiting for the right moment. Then he hesitated. Shots were exchanged. He was killed. Most people do not want to take a life. At short range, it is not uncommon for both participants in a gunfight to be hit or for both participants to be missed. Hesitation can be deadly. Simjee expected compliance. Instead, he received a deadly bullet.

Life is complex. Uncertainty is common.  In the tragic case of the good Samaritan college students in the Alabama forest, hesitation was a deadly mistake.

Man who broke into ex-girlfriend’s home with sledgehammer shot twice by current partner

BATON ROUGE – A man was arrested Wednesday morning after he broke into his ex-girlfriend’s home and was shot twice by her current partner.

According to a spokesperson for the Baton Rouge Police Department, Jake Rayborn went to the house around 9 a.m. and broke through the door with a sledgehammer.

Once inside, police said Rayborn pulled out a gun and started shooting at the victim, her 3-year-old child and her current boyfriend. Officers said the boyfriend also grabbed a gun and shot Rayborn twice.

Rayborn was taken to a hospital, treated for non-life threatening injuries and then taken to jail. He was booked with three counts of attempted first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Police said Rayborn and the victim were separated for four months before the attack happened.

‘Calling forth the Militia’ – Americans Prepare for Terror Attacks

The enemy is at the gate. One need only look at the Iranian-backed genocide in Israel to see what they have in store for this country if their plans succeed.

Clearly, Joe Biden helped get us into this dire situation.

  • Biden allowed millions of military-age males to enter this country illegally, including hundreds on the terror watch list. You could see them rallying yesterday in major cities across the United States, celebrating the terrorist atrocities in Israel.
  • Biden ignored Iranian sanctions and allowed them to generate more than $40 billion in oil revenue, which they used to fund their terror campaigns. And then he gave them $6 billion more in an ill-conceived ransom payment.
  • Biden gifted the terrorists in Afghanistan more than $7 billion in military equipment, including aircraft, armored vehicles, explosives, small arms and ammunition. Time will tell if these weapons are being used against Israeli Defense Forces.
  • While he was arming terrorists, Biden used every trick in the book to disarm law-abiding Americans. He even created an office in the White House to coordinate his plans for total civilian disarmament.

Continue reading “”

Homeowner shoots, kills man during break-in at Phoenix house

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) — An investigation is underway after an intruder was shot and killed by a homeowner late Thursday night. According to police, a man was trying to break into a home near 17th Avenue and Camelback Road just before 11 p.m. The homeowner then reportedly pulled out a gun and shot him in the chest during the break-in. The suspect, identified as 30-year-old Ricky Gomez, was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries but later died.

Roger Smith lives next door and was getting ready for bed when he heard the gunfire. He’s just happy no one in the house was hurt. “He has two young kids, and he has a wife, and he’s protecting his family,” said Smith. “You know the guy broke the window and got in. He did what he had to do.” By Friday morning, the window was boarded up. Arizona’s Family spoke to the homeowner off-camera, and he politely declined to be interviewed.

Phoenix defense attorney Dwane Cates said that Arizona law protects homeowners who shoot someone who breaks into their house. “If somebody is outside your window and you just see them peeking around out in the bushes, it may not be reasonable to shoot them,” said Cates. “But if they actually enter your house coming through a window or kick down your front door, then you’re absolutely within your rights to shoot them. It’s called the Castle Doctrine. Your home is your castle, and you have the right to defend your home.”

It’s unclear why Gomez was breaking into the house.

I will say that I don’t think we’ll see as widespread violence compared to Israel if things ever did go south. Mainly because we are known as the most heavily armed nation on the face of the Earth, and will go kinetic if the opportunity ever presents itself. That being said:

Rogan O’Handley

Many are warning about terrorist attacks in America by Hamas operatives

If you had any doubt about the veracity of those warnings, just look at how many demonstrations in support of Hamas took place this weekend just hours after Hamas slaughtered hundreds of civilians

These people are not playing around and violence against the innocent is their preferred method of communication

Biden removed Trump’s travel ban from terrorist nations and our border has been flooded with millions of fighting-aged men this past year alone, so those Hamas operatives are probably already here and waiting for the green light. Biden is not going to protect us. We must protect ourselves

Godspeed Patriots🇺🇸

Image

Horse, Barn Door – Israel’s Minister of National Security Announces Relaxed Rules for Civilian Gun Ownership.

In our post this morning, we predicted that following the atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists across southern Israel this weekend, the government, which has kept a relatively tight hold on gun ownership by Israeli citizens, would relax that policy. Huddling in safe rooms, waiting for hours for help from police and the military while murderous Palestinians go house to house cutting down men, women, and children tends to drive home the benefits of an armed populace.

This afternoon, Israel’s Minister for National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir — someone you have to think will soon be looking for other employment opportunities — announced that the government will, in fact, make it easier for Israelis to buy and carry firearms.

Here’s a translation of his tweet . . .

Today I directed the Firearms Licensing Division to go on an emergency operation, in order to allow as many citizens as possible to arm themselves.

The plan will take effect within 24 hours, below are its main points:

1. Any citizen who meets the detailed tests for carrying a private firearm due to self-defense and serving the security forces, and is without a criminal or medical record, will be required to undergo a telephone interview instead of a physical interview, and will be able to receive permission to carry a firearm within a week. (Self-defense tests: residence in an eligible settlement, rifle veterans 07 and above, officers in the rank of lieutenant and above and combatants in the rank of major and above in the IDF and the security forces, service in special units, firefighters, policemen, and workers and volunteers in the rescue forces).

2. Any citizen who received a conditional permit to purchase a firearm and did not purchase a firearm during the year 2023 and the conditional license has expired, will be able to purchase a firearm now without the need to submit another application. The exemption will apply to about 4000 citizens.

3. Any citizen who deposited his weapon in the last six months due to failure to perform refresher training or renewal training, will be able to receive his weapon back. The exemption will apply to about 1800 citizens.

4. In addition, starting next Tuesday, conditional permits to carry firearms will be issued with a permit allowing the purchase of up to 100 bullets instead of 50 today.

All this in addition to the criteria change that should happen soon.

I thank the members of the Firearms Licensing Division, the Civil Response Department of the Israel Police and the employees of the Ministry of Health for the very important commitment that will allow as many citizens as possible to arm themselves and protect themselves and their environment when necessary.

Unfortunately, the Israeli government won’t be handing out rifles and ammo to anyone who wants one. The process and requirements are still far too restrictive and cumbersome, but this appears to be a step in the right direction.

It’s a shame that it’s taken a national atrocity and the loss of hundreds of lives to drive home the point that armed self-defense is not only a natural human right, but can also make the job of criminals and, in this case, blood-thirsty terrorists, much more difficult. Who knows how many lives might have been saved by wider civilian gun ownership?

Politicians, however, are politicians no matter where you go. And few of them ever seem to see allowing citizens to exercise more freedoms as in their own best interests.

“When minutes count, the army is only hours away”

In Heroic Battle, 15 People Saved Kibbutz Kerem Shalom From Hamas Massacre.

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Although most of the Kibbutzim in the western Negev were woefully unprepared for a mass Hamas attack and paid a heavy price in civilian casualties, there was one Kibbutz where Hamas did not succeed in conquering the Kibbutz, did not take captives and did not cause any civilian casualties.

The kibbutz is situated at the southwestern tip of Israel, near the border with Gaza and Egypt. A few years ago, the kibbutz nearly disbanded due to lack of people willing to live in the parched, arid zone with few employment opportunities. However a Garin Torani (nucleus of Bnei Torah) arrived a few years ago to strengthen the kibbutz and to build their lives there in pioneering fashion. The young religious families energized the kibbutz and on Simchas Torah all the residents both religious and secular celebrated in the shul with many guests from all over the country.

At one point, Moshe Yedidia Raziel stood in the middle of the circle and began singing Am Yisrael Chai as everyone jumped up and down in unison. At the end of the Hakafos everyone went back to eat the festive meal.

At 6:30 A.M they awoke to sirens around the Kibbutz and the defenders, consisting of nine local residents with army training (former IDF soldiers) and six soldiers, prepared for the invasion. Amichai Yisrael Vitzan told his wife that “this is what we have been training for.” The small force deployed around the kibbutz in different places. Tens of terrorists infiltrated the kibbutz and the force engaged them in fierce fighting.

Kerem Shalom’s 35 homes became a battlefield. In the first hours the force eliminated many of the terrorists and for 6 hours continued the battle alone. In on of the shootouts, the wife of Moshe Yedidia Raziel heard heavy shooting and then Yedidia shouted: “We eliminated them”.

Amichai was calm and told his wife on Whatsapp to make the children feel good as today is Simchas Torah. This was the last she heard from him. A few hours after the fighting started, a terrorist surprised Amichai Yisrael and Moshe Yedidia from behind and murdered both of them. Amichai (33) left five children and Moshe (31) left three children. Both were friends from the same community (Psagot), both were studying social work in Ashkelon and both came to help the struggling kibbutz. It was their heroic struggle which saved the kibbutz members from the fate of neighboring communities. All of the families were saved (two other members of the fighting group were injured) and nobody was taken captive.

The army arrived only at 1 PM after the group had fought off Hamas for six hours.

 

Armed Chicago tow truck driver turns the tables on suspected drive-by shooter

A concealed carry holder in Chicago turned the tables on a suspected drive-by shooter who opened fire on a group of people after a car crash, according to a report.

“The shooting happened so quickly, I didn’t have time to react,” witness Lorenzo Hernandez told ABC 7 via a Spanish translator. “In Chicago, you go to work not knowing if you will come back home. This happens everywhere. I thank God that I didn’t get hit.”

Police said they responded to a drive-by shooting at about 2 p.m. on the Southwest Side, the outlet reported, and squad cards surrounded a Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) bus.

Hernandez said he witnessed a car crash involving four vehicles and a CTA bus near 47th and Archer that afternoon. He witnessed riders exit the bus before someone in a white Dodge Durango allegedly shot at the group.

“I saw the bus crash happen as I was stopped at the light,” Hernandez said.

A 55-year-old male CTA bus supervisor was hit during the gunfire. The man was injured after responding to the scene for the crash, ABC 7 reported.

Hernandez said he was in his SUV near a tow truck driver when the gunman fired in his direction and hit his vehicle. The tow truck driver, Hernandez said, ducked when the gunfire erupted and he feared the trucker was hit.

The tow truck driver, who did not provide his name to local media, however, reemerged during the shooting and fired off two shots at the suspect, ABC 7 reported.

The suspect has not been identified and fled the scene before police were able to make any arrests. The police department confirmed that a witness with a concealed carry permit returned fire on the suspect, according to ABC 7.

The tow truck driver told the outlet that the shooter aimed at him before he returned fire.

A bullet was found lodged in Hernandez’s SUV, the outlet reported.

“The bullet looked like it was headed in my direction, but got stopped by the car,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez added that the tow truck driver came over and thanked him following the shooting, because the car prevented him from getting shot.

“The tow truck driver thanked me. He said if my SUV wasn’t there, he would have gotten killed,” Hernandez said.

The CTA bus supervisor was taken to a local hospital in stable condition after suffering a gunshot to his thigh. He was not the reported target of the shooting, according to the outlet.

The Chicago Police Department told Fox News Digital on Sunday evening that there were no updates to the case and the investigation remains ongoing.