In the comments section of my column discussing the second anniversary of the October 7 attacks, one reader made three suggestions Israel should follow to avoid future attacks similar to those of October 7. The first suggestion he made was for Israel to "change the gun laws so they resemble those of Texas and Florida."
The contributor's point has been repeated by many RedState and Townhall subscribers in the comments sections below columns that discuss the atrocities of October 7. From an American's perspective, the suggestion makes a lot of sense.
This column is designed to shed light on several facts about Israel that many Americans might not know. These facts are integral to the conversation about Israeli gun laws and how they could or could not prevent similar types of attacks.
On October 7, Hamas attacked many kibbutzim and the city of Sderot. There are 281 kibbutzim scattered around Israel. Those kibbutzim fall into one of two categories: religious or secular. Only 19 kibbutzim are religious. (Click here for an interactive map of every location of the 1,224 victims of Hamas' atrocities.)
Kibbutzim are mostly homogeneous populations. If you want to live in an Israeli town or city, it is just like in the United States. You buy or rent property and move there. However, if you want to move to a kibbutz, you have to apply. The residents of the kibbutz then vote on whether they accept you into their community. That is how the residents of a kibbutz preserve the "identity" of the kibbutz. As a general rule, religious kibbutzim are populated by Israelis with conservative political beliefs, and the other kibbutzim are populated by Israelis with far-left political beliefs.
We will now examine gun ownership in Texas since that was one of the two states the commenter used as an example. According to the Ammo.com website, 45.7 percent of Texas residents own a gun. Texas has the highest absolute number of guns owned, but that is because it has a large population, and those residents who make up the 45.7 percent own way more than just one gun.
However, in Austin, gun ownership is much lower than in the rest of the state. This is because Austin is populated by leftists who do not want to purchase a firearm. Texas makes it easy to purchase a gun, and no permit is required to carry one. However, regardless of how easy it is to purchase or carry a firearm, a resident who does not wish to own one isn't going to buy one.
The state of Montana is listed on the Ammo.com website as the state with the highest level of gun ownership. Montana's capital is Helena, and gun ownership is lower in Helena than in the rest of Montana for the same reasons discussed above about Austin. Helena, like 47 of the 50 state capitals, has a DNC mayor reflecting the percentage of leftists who live in the city.
We will now return to our discussion about Israel. All of the kibbutzim built near Gaza, except two, are secular kibbutzim populated by Israelis with far-left political ideologies. The residents of those kibbutzim are unlikely to purchase a gun, no matter how easy it is for them to buy one.
The residents of these secular kibbutzim believe in peace with Hamas and a two-state solution. Even after the October 7 atrocities, the leftist relatives of many of the hostages have demanded that Israel cave to all of Hamas' demands because they believe that is the only way they will get the hostages back.
The two religious kibbutzim near Gaza are Sa'ad and Alumim. Sa'ad did not suffer a single death or kidnapping. Hamas terrorists did not enter Sa'ad even though it was less than a mile from Kfar Aza, where Hamas killed 54 civilians and kidnapped 20 others. Twenty-six IDF soldiers were killed trying to liberate Kfar Aza.
In Alumim, the town's armed security prevented Hamas from killing or kidnapping any Israelis. Hamas then targeted the Thai workers in the fields, killing 22 of them and kidnapping four. It is reasonable to assume that Sa'ad had armed security similar to Alumim, and thus, Hamas decided not to attack.
After October 7, Israel passed new laws making it easier to purchase a rifle or a handgun for personal use. However, the communities that put in the most requests for firearm permits were the religious kibbutzim and villages in the West Bank. Biden put many of the Israeli West Bank citizens on a list, banning Israel from providing them with arms purchased from the United States federal government. Trump reversed that rule, and many West Bank communities now have armed security teams in case of an attack.
Hamas also attacked the city of Sderot and overwhelmed its defenses. Since Sderot is populated by a mixture of politically conservative and leftist Jews, it is probable that less strict gun laws could have prevented some of the carnage that day. However, Hamas was able to take over a police station in Sderot, which would have been a place with more firearms. Hamas killed nine police officers at the station. In total, Hamas killed 53 people in Sderot out of its total population of about 36,000. The 53 people killed consisted of 37 civilians, 11 police officers, three IDF soldiers, and two firefighters. The number of people killed by Hamas in Sderot was significant, but was only a very small fraction of the total 1,224 killed on that day.
In conclusion, gun laws that allow for personal gun ownership with fewer restrictions certainly help residents protect their families and homes from an attack. However, if the residents do not believe in purchasing firearms, then those laws are meaningless. Thus, even if Israel had allowed all of its civilians to purchase and carry guns without a permit, it is unlikely that it would have prevented the atrocities of October 7 due to the demographics that Hamas targeted that day. In short, many politically conservative Israelis hope their leftist counterparts wake up one day and understand the need to protect themselves without relying on the IDF or the police. Even after October 7, it remains to be seen whether that will be the case.
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