Israel Rejects US Gun Lobby Claims on Its Security
Source: Associated Press
Israel Rejects US Gun Lobby Claims on Its Security
By By AMY TEIBEL Associated Press
JERUSALEM December 24, 2012 (AP)
Israel's policy on issuing guns is restrictive, and armed guards at its schools are meant to stop terrorists, not crazed or disgruntled gunmen, experts said Monday, rejecting claims by America's top gun lobby that Israel serves as proof for its philosophy that the U.S. needs more weapons, not fewer.
Far from the image of a heavily armed population where ordinary people have their own arsenals to repel attackers, Israel allows its people to acquire firearms only if they can prove their professions or places of residence put them in danger. The country relies on its security services, not armed citizens, to prevent terror attacks.
Though military service in Israel is compulsory, routine familiarity with weapons does not carry over into civilian life. Israel has far fewer private weapons per capita than the U.S., and while there have been gangster shootouts on the streets from time to time, gun rampages outside the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are unheard of.
The National Rifle Association responded to the Dec. 14 killing of 20 first-graders and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school by resisting calls for tighter gun control and calling for armed guards and police at schools. On Sunday, the lobby's chief executive, Wayne LaPierre, invoked his perception of the Israeli school security system to back his proposal.
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/israel-rejects-us-gun-lobby-claims-security-18057515
samsingh
(17,600 posts)riverbendviewgal
(4,253 posts)K&R
bluestateguy
(44,173 posts)and it's time American liberals started acknowledging that.
bvar22
(39,909 posts)I would take THAT without hesitation.
Maybe THEY should be sending aid to us?
riverbendviewgal
(4,253 posts)They are even stricter than Canada.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)So there's that.
riverbendviewgal
(4,253 posts)I happen to have close friends who are and they are not Arabs.
RandiFan1290
(6,239 posts)RW radio spread the meme that every Israeli is armed and they walk the streets with their weapons.
Add to that the pic of 1 "teacher" with a rifle and all is well on Bullshit Mountain.
former9thward
(32,066 posts)I have been to Jerusalem twice for extended stays. I saw many high school students walking to school with rifles on their back. I saw teenagers in bars with machine guns slung around their shoulders. And yes I did see quite a few civilians walking down streets with guns.
Selatius
(20,441 posts)If we were talking about a city further away from the front lines, such as Netanya or Haifa or Ashdod, the restrictions on weapons probably would be more.
You're not as likely going to run into a gun-toting Palestinian bent on killing a lot of people in Netanya or Ashdod compared to a city like Jerusalem.
Fortinbras Armstrong
(4,473 posts)Response to Judi Lynn (Original post)
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Response to Judi Lynn (Original post)
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libdem4life
(13,877 posts)kelliekat44
(7,759 posts)humblebum
(5,881 posts)Well, of course we know terrorists would never strike in the US. Especially where there are a bunch of unarmed innocents. (RELUCTANT SARCASM)
And of course no terrorist can be considered crazed or disgruntled.