Peloni: I have made the point many time that Jews should pursue proper training and gun ownership to the limit of their local constituencies worldwide. Protect yourself, your loved ones, and your community.
By Andrea Widburg | Am Thinker | Dec 27, 2025
Image via AI
I believe that history proves that all Jews should be legally armed and defensively dangerous. As law-abiding citizens and moral human beings, we should always be able to exercise our God-given right to self-defense. Fortunately, it seems that, slowly but steadily, more and more American Jews—a demographic that was traditionally anti-gun—are beginning to see things my way.
I grew up in a very anti-gun home, something that mostly came from my mother. My parents had experienced World War II and the Israeli War of Independence firsthand. My dad was a combatant in both wars, first in the RAF and then in the Israel Defense Forces (“IDF”). Dad’s lesson was that a good rifle will defend you, and he eventually bought an old British Lee-Enfield rifle…which Mom promptly made him get rid of.
Why did she do that? Different life lessons.
My mother was a victim of World War II (she was interned in a Japanese concentration camp in Java) and an IDF cartographer in the Israeli War of Independence. Although she knew how to handle a rifle as part of her IDF basic training, she was never a combatant.
Maybe that was why Mom was one of those Jews who learned the wrong lesson about guns: Namely, that the problem is the gun, not the ideology that drives the person holding the gun (whether that ideology is basic criminality or race- or religion-driven hatred). Our family’s Democrat politics reinforced this attitude.
And goodness knows, we were not the only Jewish family to feel this way. Gun ownership data from 1972 to 2002 shows that Jews had an extremely low rate of gun ownership, with only 13% or so of Jewish households owning guns during that thirty-year period. In 2005, Jewish households were almost 75% less likely to have guns than non-Jewish households. Individual Jews weren’t much better, with only 10% of Jewish individuals owning guns, compared to 26% of non-Jews.
Traditionally, Jews have not only rejected guns for themselves, but they also haven’t wanted others to have guns. In a 2018 survey, 70% said it was more important to have gun control compared to 25% who valued supporting American gun rights. Incidentally, the percentage of pro-gun-control Jews in that poll aligned almost perfectly with Jewish allegiance to the Democrat party.
However…
Beginning in 2018, some Jews began to figure out that, even in America, people want to kill them, an understanding triggered by murderous synagogue attacks in Pittsburgh (2018), Poway (2019), and, most recently, Colleyville (2025). They looked at the landscape—growing numbers of radical Muslims, growing antisemitism on American campuses and in the heart of the Democrat party, and increasingly overt antisemitism from American blacks (long the most antisemitic group in America after Muslims)—and realized that, as the NRA always said, when seconds count, the police are minutes away.
However, even as late as 2022, before the events of October 7, 2023, in Israel, which triggered rabid, genocidal antisemitism on college campuses and in cities across America, most American Jews (along with the Democrat party) continued to press for ever more extreme gun control.
What finally seems to have changed that foolish dynamic is October 7 and the overt explosion of American antisemitism that followed. Finally, Jews are arming themselves, so much so that a Jewish gun club called Lox & Loaded (a very clever pun) is growing fast across America:
A Jewish American firearms club, founded in the wake of the October 7 massacre and the rise in antisemitism, is growing in popularity, with over 30 chapters across the United States. It’s poised to go international.
Created in Cleveland, Ohio, the Lox & Loaded gun club has more than 1,000 members and aspires to establish a chapter in every US state. A spokesperson said that the objective was reasonable, given the immense interest in the organization.
So far, Lox & Loaded hasn’t made it to South Carolina, but I live in hope. I sincerely believe that a free people, to remain free, must see each individual bristle like a porcupine. Those cute little beasties leave others alone, but they make it clear that they will brook no attacks. (Same goes for skunks, another adorable animal you don’t want to mess with.)
For more on Jews and guns, check out my review of Guns & Moses and, even better, check out the actual movie. And if you’re Jewish and don’t live in a leftist bastion like New York or San Francisco, where they make it almost impossible to exercise your right to bear arms, look into getting a gun and taking a gun safety class. (You should always do both if you’ve never handled a gun before.)
Too bad the Left in Israel will NOT under any circumstances allow every Jew in Israel to have a decent firearm. Only some 6% of Non-IDF and non-police have a “permit” and that gets you a 9mm Glock and a limit of 50 rounds of ammo to fend off Muslims with fully automatic AK-47’s.
The Left in Israel could care less what happened on October 7th in so far as Jewish safety. They don’ trust their fellow Jews – neither did Ben Gurion.
They make noises but their actions speak otherwise.
I am a lifetime Jewish activist. The son of Holocaust survivors from Poland/Russia. I live in Leftist/Liberal/antisemitic Toronto, Canada. A few years back, well before Oct 7, my old Israeli buddy and me decided to get our firearms license. We registered for a multi-week firearms course and passed both long gun (rifle) and short gun (handgun) exams. The last step is applying to the RCMP for the license. On the form it asks your spouse or anyone that you cohabitate with to sign the form acknowledging that you are applying for the license. My wife refused to sign it because she was not thrilled with the idea of having a firearm at home. I told her that I’m just applying for the license in case we need to have a firearm at home in the future. She refused. Eventually the RCMP called her and asked her why she didn’t sign. She repeated her disdain for firearms at home. He told her that unless she had a doctor’s note advising that I have mental problems, she can’t stop me from acquiring one. It took a few months but I finally got my license.
Fast forward to after Oct 7 2023. My wife comes home from work all pissed off. Apparently a bunch of anti-Israel protesters closed the entrance ramp from the highway into our neighbourhood. The cops were actually on horseback in our once quiet mostly Jewish neighbourhood. The next morning my wife places a baseball bat near the front door. I smiled when I saw that and asked her why the bat. She said that she needs me to protect her. I responded that I’m honoured to protect her and our home but I demand the right tool for the job. If a violent Islamist comes to our door with a gun, the bat won’t help. I told her that I’m buying a gun. She didn’t say yes but didn’t say no. The next day I bought a Henry AR-7 rifle, 22 caliber. I also advise that every Jew in the diaspora, take the course and purchase a legal firearm.
@leonkushner
I agree, but not just in the diaspora.
I live in Thornhill, 2 of my 3 daughters & 5 of my 8 grandkids live in Toronto. One family lives close to Bathurst & Sheppard and can hear the loudspeakers & bullhorns from the Palestinians & their useful idiots every Sunday. In May of last year. Last year, May 2024, I took a firearms course and received my PAL (firearms license) about 5 weeks later. I was able to overcome my wife’s strident objections and thus bought a CZ 22LR a few months later. This past spring I bought a Henry Homesteader 9mm semi-automatic. It comes with a Glock adapter and I bought several 10 round magazines. Not only is it great fun target shooting, it has substantial stopping power. One can buy hollow-point 9mm bullets. I didn’t do the handgun course as they can only be bought illegally. I agree with you that Jews should take the course and purchase a rifle. Note to Canadians, many courses available in the GTA and there’s quite a few gun shops. It’s all rather easy and do so before the feds legislate more restrictions.
I live in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). For the benefit of US readers, the core of this urban nightmare is the city of Toronto which is much like a poorly run Dem US city but on steroids. The mayor of Toronto is a socialist foreigner, speaks English poorly, and is an anti-Semite. The provincial government is beholden to the much larger Muslim community as is the federal gov’t and the POS PM Carney. Carney, like his peers in the UK/Australia, recognized the non existent state of Palestine. The GTA has a Muslim population of about 725,000 – 2nd largest on the continent – only NYC has more. The GTA Jewish community is about 200,000. As a consequence the far left wing municipal government, the nominally “conservative” provincial gov’t, and the left wing federal government are at best hostile to the Jewish community and at worst enable the Palestinians and their useful idiots to vomit Jew hatred and face little repercussions. In fact, at a busy corner located in the heart of one of the GTA ’s largest Jewish communities, the Palestinians have been “protesting” every Sunday, with Palestinian flags, hateful signs, and loudspeakers harassing the Jews. My daughter and her family live nearby and hear the noise every Sunday. Recently, in the last several weeks, groups of 20 – 25 Palestinians have broken away from the commercial intersection and have paraded into the residential areas harassing Jews and non Jews with their hate. They are accompanied by a couple of Toronto police officers. There are laws prohibiting such behaviour but they’re ignored.
I live in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). For the benefit of US readers, the core of this urban nightmare is the city of Toronto which is much like a poorly run Dem US city but on steroids. The mayor of Toronto is a socialist foreigner, speaks English poorly, and is an anti-Semite. The provincial government is beholden to the much larger Muslim community as is the federal gov’t and the POS PM Carney. Carney, like his peers in the UK/Australia, recognized the non existent state of Palestine. The GTA has a Muslim population of about 725,000 – 2nd largest on the continent – only NYC has more. The GTA Jewish community is about 200,000. As a consequence the far left wing municipal government, the nominally “conservative” provincial gov’t, and the left wing federal government are at best hostile to the Jewish community and at worst enable the Palestinians and their useful idiots to vomit Jew hatred and face little repercussions. In fact, at a busy corner located in the heart of one of the GTA ’s largest Jewish communities, the Palestinians have been “protesting” every Sunday, with Palestinian flags, hateful signs, and loudspeakers harassing the Jews. My daughter and her family live nearby and hear the noise every Sunday. Recently, in the last several weeks, groups of 20 – 25 Palestinians have broken away from the commercial intersection and have paraded into the residential areas harassing Jews and non Jews with their hate. They are accompanied by a couple of Toronto police officers. There are laws prohibiting such behaviour but they’re ignored.
This can inspire Jews in other countries to do the same thing.
I think the main issue is to get well-trained (safety is incredibly important) and purchase one or more guns; the Jewish bit is great, but first things first.
Considering that I’m in Canada, I have a substantial number of guns (and other weapon types too). I also belong to a “regular” gun club, which allows me to practise (another important aspect of shooting).