What is the Jewish position on gun control?

American Jews, many of whom live in religiously-observant communities that are located in states that have strict gun control laws, have a reputation for also being supportive of strict gun control laws.  But that may be changing.

Following the January 2015 attacks on Jews in France, and seven decades after the Holocaust where the extermination of European Jewry was facilitated by German gun control laws (laws that were mostly directed at Jews and other so-called “undesirables”), a Rabbi in Europe is calling for revisions to current European gun control laws, revisions which, if adopted, would allow European Jews to lawfully carry concealed handguns.

https://www.nraila.org/articles/20150116/jewish-leader-calls-for-civilian-firearms-to-combat-terror

Although the Rabbi’s efforts to reform European gun control laws likely will not be successful, those efforts may signal the beginning of a change in attitude among Jews who historically – at least in modern times – have been in favor of gun control.  (Why some Jews have favored gun control is an entirely separate discussion in and of itself.)

Further evidence of the beginning of a possible shift in Jewish public opinion might be found in a recent statement by Israeli Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch, who said “In the coming hours, I will ease restrictions on carrying weapons.”

http://www.msn.com/en-sa/news/other/israel-to-ease-gun-controls-after-attack/ar-BBertYY

Aharonovitvh’s comments came in the aftermath of the November 2014 massacre of four very prominent and respected Rabbis, all of whom were murdered while reciting morning prayers in a synagogue located in the Har Nof section of Jerusalem.

The benefits of government recognition – and respect for – the right of law-abiding individuals to be able to lawfully protect themselves from violent and murderous attack is (or at least should be) beyond dispute.  Although each country, and often different regions within particular countries, have their own unique culture and history, certain concepts are, as America’s Founding Fathers understood, universal.  Among those concepts is the right of self-defense.

Those of us who live in Texas are fortunate to have a state government that respects the right of lawful self-defense.  However, many who live in other states in the United States, as well as almost all who live in other countries, are not as fortunate.

So, what exactly is the Jewish position on gun control?  Over the course of both modern and ancient history, the Jews, more than any other people, have suffered at the hands of governments that denied them the right of self-defense.  But interestingly, as noted above, American Jews have a reputation for supporting gun control.  However, Jewish support for gun control is a relatively new phenomenon.  As early as the year 1312 B.C.E. – now some 3,327 years ago – the Jews were armed as they left the slavery of Egypt for the freedom of the Land of Israel.  See, Exodus 13:18.  The obvious lesson, of course, is that freedom is preferable to slavery, and that a free people have an inherent right to self-defense.

Hopefully, the loss of life which resulted from the recent terrorist attacks in Jerusalem and Paris will not have been in vain, and that those events will help shape, solidify, and return the Jewish position on the right to meaningful self-defense – what we today know as “gun control” – to its traditional and historical meaning.  And then maybe, just maybe, this nascent trend of Jewish advocacy for the right of meaningful self-defense will also be a Light Unto the Nations.

This post originally appeared on LapinLawTX Firearms and Self-Defense Blog.