Netanyahu Gets It Right on Guns, US Should Follow His Lead

Every time there's a mass shooting in the United States, the reaction is pretty much the same. Local, state or federal lawmakers pass a law or local ordinance that typically restricts the rights of lawful gun owners. Then they'll pat one another on the back and say, "Well, we fixed that."

Except they didn't.

Maybe we should look at how other countries do it. Maybe we should look at Israel.

A young Palestinian gunman took the lives of seven worshippers at a Jerusalem synagogue late Friday. He also injured three others before he was taken down by police. One of the victims was a 70-year-old woman observing religious services.

In addition to being the Jewish sabbath, last Friday was Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The gunman was later identified as Khairi Alqam, age 13, by Israeli authorities.

Conventional wisdom (among U.S. lawmakers) would have been to:

• Declare the type of weapon the gunman used as an "assault gun" and restricted its ownership by the public;

• Ban the possession of firearms by 13-year-olds; and,

• Declare areas in and around places of worship "gun-free" zones.

Then they would shake hands, congratulate one another, and go home believing they had solved the problem.

But they wouldn't have.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a better idea. He announced over the weekend what the Jewish state's response would be.

"In addition, we're expanding and accelerating gun licensing to thousands of licensed citizens, including first responders. This will allow citizens to save lives," he said on his official Facebook page.

"When civilians have guns, they can defend themselves," agreed Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israeli national security minister.

Itzik Chiprout, chairman of the Israeli Legal Weapon Association, also thought this was an excellent move.

"The police cannot be everywhere," said Chiprout. "Even a swift police reaction is sometimes not enough. Civilians that are armed save lives."

But none of that would sit well with liberal America, especially someone like Berkeley professor and former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, who had a bone to pick with the Second Amendment over the weekend.

"The Second Amendment was never intended to permit mass slaughter," he tweeted Sunday.

He apparently said this in response to the three California mass shootings that took place last week within 48 hours, killing 19 people.

But the Second Amendment wasn't designed to "permit mass slaughter" — it was drafted and ratified, in part, to prevent or at least to limit a "mass slaughter."

What's especially significant about last week's string of mass shootings is that they took place in the state with arguably the strictest gun laws in the country.

So obviously, the problem is rooted in something other than firearms.

Democrat-run cities such as Atlanta, Baltimore, and Detroit have shown to have the highest homicide rates in the nation. In addition, recent studies have shown that a mere 1% of U.S. counties are responsible for 42% of America's murders.

"President Biden and Democrats want to talk about violent crime as a gun problem. Over 92% of violent crime has nothing to do with guns," said John Lott Jr., former president of the Crime Prevention Research Center. "The way you reduce violent crime or gun crime is the same way: You have to make it risky to go and commit the crime."

That means no more cashless bail, no more automatic pre-rial release, and no more light sentences or no sentences upon conviction. In short, no more revolving door justice.

It can also mean fear of an armed society: the fear home invaders experience when confronted with an armed homeowner, or a carjacker's fear when his would-be victim draws his own weapon.

It's especially significant that Friday night's Jerusalem attack occurred on Holocaust Remembrance Day.

It seems doubtful that there would have been a Holocaust leading to the slaughter of an estimated six million Jews had the Third Reich permitted private gun ownership.

A teary-eyed witness to Friday's Jerusalem attack hugged Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir later that night.

"If I was armed, I would have saved three or four people," the eyewitness told Ben-Gvir as he sobbed.

Maybe next time he will.

Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.