Guns are all over the place in the promised land. From my living room window, I watch a father pushing a stroller, his IDF assault rifle slung across his back. The gabbai (prayer service director) at a shul I visited packs a pistol while giving out Aliyahs (the honor of reciting the Torah blessing). Seated across from me on a Jerusalem bus is a woman, late 20s, with a holstered SIG Sauer P365 semi-automatic pistol tucked into her jeans as if a fashion accessory. I’m in a market on Emek Refa’im in Jerusalem and see a man packing an Emtan Ramon 9mm semi-automatic pistol, feeling up tomatoes, while a young, skinny, bearded man with an IDF assault rifle strapped across his back, his tzitzit hanging out, waits in line to pay for winter-season strawberries. None of these gun scenes disturb me.

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On the other hand, if I walk into a 7-Eleven in Oakland, California, and see someone packing a 9mm semi-automatic pistol and another with an assault rifle, I’m gonna have some concerns. Same weapons, different story. In Israel, I’m reassured and getting me some of those winter-season strawberries. In California, I’m dropping to the ground, hiding behind the candy bar display, and calling 911. To understand these different stories, I took a gunsight view by asking the obvious to Israelis and Americans: Why carry a gun? Their answers revealed simple truths about each country. But with Israel, the story is one that many Americans—Jew and non-Jew alike—have either failed or refused to grasp, even if it is the simple truth.

Bob, a CPA and good friend of mine from Texas, carries a 9 mm Glock. Texas Bob has had a permit for about twenty-one years, even though Texas doesn’t require one, which means he’s been trained to handle a gun. So, why do you carry? I asked. For protection, he deadpanned. From what? Texas Bob looked at me as if I were the straight man in a vaudeville act, asking the dumb setup question. Criminals. Texas Bob was not about to let himself get robbed. He offered this: A mugger in Texas is going to think twice because he doesn’t know if the mugger is carrying. But there’s also gun culture, Texas Bob explained, not made up of crazies but rather sane individuals who just like guns and have a fondness for the Second Amendment. Texas Bob’s reason for carrying is consistent with studies that show a significant majority carry guns for protection and are not fanatics.

Why carry? I asked a Jewish brother from New Jersey who has a permit. For security. Okay. Security from what? His answer: Antisemitism. He explained that his community borders an area with a large Palestinian population that has demonstrated overt antisemitism and threatening behavior, so he thought it important to be prepared.

Ron from Florida by way of Queens, New York, started shooting for sport while in the Boy Scouts. Ron owns over two dozen guns and describes himself as a gun enthusiast. He often carries a 9 mm Glock 26. While Ron noted he’d never thought he’d see this much antisemitism in his lifetime, he’d carry for protection regardless and has been doing so for the last twenty years. Carrying a gun comes with serious responsibility, Ron explained, which includes the importance of regular practice and situational awareness training. Both Ron and Texas Bob told me that carrying causes them to act more conservatively because they never want to fire their gun.

A landsman from New York who carries, told me that he grew up in a West Coast state with gun culture and had been shooting at an early age. Now he lives in a frum community and, with his rabbi’s permission, carries a gun to shul. Gun culture, defense, and security are the reasons he carries a sidearm. While there’s hardly any antisemitism in his county, he thinks it’s important to be prepared. Guns haven’t been viewed favorably in the frum community, but he sees attitudes shifting. He’s not alone.

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Since October 7th, interest in guns by Jews has increased, along with

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