Jerusalem Mayor Calls on Civilians to Carry Weapons in Wake of Terror Attacks
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat called on civilians who own firearms to carry them at all times in the wake of a spate of stabbing and shooting attacks by Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West Bank and various places in Israel. “I think that carrying a licensed pistol and knowing what to do with it is imperative; it’s like doing reserve duty,” said the mayor in an interview to Army Radio on Thursday morning.
“In retrospect, we can see that statistically the neutralization of terrorists was often done by capable people who weren’t necessarily policemen,” said Barkat, explaining his call for “weapon owners who know how to use them should carry them.”
Ashdod police commander Noam Shekel echoed that call at a town council meeting, where he urged city residents who own weapons to carry them “in order to increase the sense of security in the city.”
Criteria for licensing weapons were eased last year in the wake of a series of terrorist attacks. According to Knesset statistics, in 2013 there were 157,000 legal weapons in private hands in Israel, with 43,000 additional ones in the hands of security guards and another 130,000 rifles and pistols held by different organizations. These numbers do not include military firearms, or guns used by police or prison services. In addition, there were 7,000 unlicensed guns in 2012.
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