With the events of the past two weeks, many Jewish people are considering exercising their Second Amendment rights and becoming gun owners for the first time. Who could blame them with campus protests meant to bully Jewish students, home invasions, harassing Moms on bicycles and more?
I have many Jewish friends who have either started the process to buy a firearm or are considering it.
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) October 25, 2023
For many of them, the idea that they would become firearm owners was unimaginable just two weeks ago.
The change was coming, I wrote about it in January, but it's now here and it's the smartest thing any Jew can do for themselves and their family. https://t.co/t8iKWthQTW https://t.co/hSfgvn6XIW
— Karol Markowicz (@karol) October 26, 2023
It was early December when The Chosen Comedy Festival came to Miami. It had been a tough few weeks for Jews.
Kanye was on his “I love Hitler” tour and it seemed like too many people wanted to hear what he had to say. The New York Times was running regular pieces about problems they saw in the Haredi communities of Brooklyn, and absolutely nowhere else, and even the secular Jews who nodded approvingly at the first write-up were starting to notice the obsession.
A rabbi friend once told me that Jews are the only people that when someone says “I hate you” say “let’s hear him out.” But at the end of 2022, Jews were finally unwilling to hear anyone out. The hatred at us had gotten old. We were collectively tired of being the target and we were craving being together in an actually safe space.
It had been 4 years since the Tree of Life shooting, 3 years since the Monsey stabbing. We weren’t over those attacks, at least in part because less deadlier attacks on Jews in places like Brooklyn were happening regularly both before and after those killings. We weren’t raw anymore. We were something else. Inside the community, something was shifting.
The easy explanation is political. Jews are moving rightward. Slowly. An Associated Press survey found that President Donald Trump’s share of the Jewish vote went from 24% in 2016 to 30% in 2020. Exit polls had 33% of Jews voting Republican in the midterm elections and exit polls require someone to tell the truth to a pollster, something a lifelong Democrat switching sides for the first time might not be ready to do. Some people credit the Jewish vote with swinging several close House seats in New York and ultimately netting Republicans the House of Representatives.
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We already own guns. Now working on getting a conceal carry license and doing more training. https://t.co/VplKQxjYPl
— Bethany S. Mandel (@bethanyshondark) October 26, 2023
While personal protection and increasing your knowledge as a gun owner is great, the reasons the Jewish community are doing it now is heartbreaking. No community in the United States should live in fear.
This is why we have a Second Amendment. https://t.co/EAWtEr6Qfk
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) October 26, 2023
Many Yidden reaching out right now for firearms training. Wish I could help everyone, but I can't. Those of us who saw this coming and started preparing years ago are ready for what we knew would come. We need to do as much as we can to help other Jews get armed and trained. https://t.co/slScUG5MCy
— Nice Jewish Boy (@AHaganah) October 26, 2023
I am not in the least surprised given what we're seeing these days. The lack of response by college administrators in particular is making many people feel alone and unsafe. https://t.co/QoJBm1Q0gZ
— Alec Rogers ⚾⚖️🍸 (@alecrogers1968) October 26, 2023
Two Jewish acquaintances of mine, both from North America, have made the decision to emigrate to Israel in the last two weeks. It's almost ironic how the antisemitic sewage mobs of the last days claim to be "anti-zionist" but through their vile hatred only create new zionists. https://t.co/wY1fU76TKC
— Der Kraut (@Der_Parrot) October 25, 2023
If anyone needs advice on buying their first gun, dm me. If not me, hit up @StephenGutowski, @CamEdwards, @Iraqveteran8888, or anyone else you trust. There are plenty of folks here who are more than happy to point you in the right direction. https://t.co/S9gYEC9eDH
— Brady Leonard (@bradyleonard) October 26, 2023
Perfect people to reach out to here on Twitter. It's awful that it has come to this, but would be much more awful if people were not protected.
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