Israel rejects NRA's guns-in-schools claim

A Jewish youth looks on March 7, 2008, at the bullet-riddled glass where a shooting attack took place at the Merkaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem. Israel went on alert as crowds mourned eight teens killed by a Palestinian gunman at the Jewish religious school in west Jerusalem. Eight students -- most of them 15 or 16 years old -- were killed at the theological school and another nine were wounded. / Getty Images

JERUSALEMIsrael's policy on issuing guns is restrictive, and armed guards at its schools are meant to stop terrorists, not crazed or disgruntled gunmen, experts said Monday, rejecting claims by America's top gun lobby that Israel serves as proof for its philosophy that the U.S. needs more weapons, not fewer.

Far from the image of a heavily armed population where ordinary people have their own arsenals to repel attackers, Israel allows its people to acquire firearms only if they can prove their professions or places of residence put them in danger. The country relies on its security services, not armed citizens, to prevent terror attacks.

Though military service in Israel is compulsory, routine familiarity with weapons does not carry over into civilian life. Israel has far fewer private weapons per capita than the U.S., and while there have been gangster shootouts on the streets from time to time, gun rampages outside the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are unheard of.

The National Rifle Association responded to the Dec. 14 killing of 20 first-graders and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school by resisting calls for tighter gun control and calling for armed guards and police at schools. On Sunday, the lobby's chief executive, Wayne LaPierre, invoked his perception of the Israeli school security system to back his proposal.

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"Israel had a whole lot of school shootings until they did one thing: They said, `We're going to stop it,' and they put armed security in every school and they have not had a problem since then," LaPierre said on the NBC News show "Meet the Press."

Israel never had "a whole lot of school shootings." Authorities could only recall two in the past four decades.

In 1974, 22 children and three adults were killed in a Palestinian attack on an elementary school in Maalot, near the border with Lebanon. The attackers' goal was to take the children hostage and trade them for imprisoned militants.

In 2008, another Palestinian assailant killed eight young people, most of them teens, at a nighttime study session at a Jewish religious seminary in Jerusalem. An off-duty soldier who happened to be in the area killed the attacker with his personal firearm.

Israel didn't mandate armed guards at the entrances to all schools until 1995, the Education Ministry said — more than two decades after the Maalot attack and two years after a Palestinian militant wounded five pupils and their principal in a knifing at a Jerusalem school.

Israel's lightly armed school guards are not the first or the last line of defense. They are backed up by special police forces on motorcycles that can be on the scene within minutes — again bringing out the main, but not the only, difference between the two systems.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor spelled it out.

"We're fighting terrorism, which comes under very specific geopolitical and military circumstances. This is not something that compares with the situation in the U.S," Palmor said.

Because it is aimed at preventing terror attacks, Israel's school security system is part of a multi-layered defense strategy that focuses on prevention and doesn't depend on a guy at a gate with a gun.

Intelligence gathering inside Palestinian territories, a large military force inside the West Bank and a barrier of towering concrete slabs and electronic fencing along and inside the West Bank provide the first line of defense.

Guards are stationed not just at schools, but at many other public facilities, including bus and train stations, parking lots, malls and restaurants.

"There are other measures of prevention of an attack taking place, which are carried out 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all over the country," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. Many are not for public knowledge.

Gun lobbyists who might think Israel hands out guns freely to keep its citizens safe might be less enamored of Israel's actual gun laws, which are much stricter than those in the U.S. For one thing, notes Yakov Amit, head of the firearms licensing department at the Ministry of Public Security, Israeli law does not guarantee the right to bear arms as the U.S. Constitution does.

"The policy in Israel is restrictive," he said.

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[IrqWarVet]

Crazy person, crazy person, bullied in school, autistic loner, terrorist...mentally whhat? Wait!!! we have a terrorist...don't let him in...everybody else just keep moviong along.

[ProundallAmerican]

"...Israel allows its people to acquire firearms only if they can prove their professions or places of residence put them in danger.

They live in Israel, every place there puts them in danger!!! Cause the way the Palestinians see it, they don't belong in any part there. So come on, lets drop the bull. They are all armed.

[mycomment12]

As we have seen throughout history, to 9/11 to this unbelievable event, no one can be prepared for madness. I don't know what is like in Israel, but it can't be easy living your life there. Let's leave them out of our heated debates.

[Red_Flag99]

There are many good intention NRA members, who only sign up so that they are allowed to practice shoot their newly purchased guns. As a grandfather, my idea is: That all NRA membership and all Congressmen of Government should be made to see all autopsies photos of these innocent 7 year old with multiple wounds. They would agree...you don't need to disperse 100 bullets in 30seconds.

[NoozNik]

Only in your fantasies

Intelligent people who choose the smarter path of nut-control.
We already KNOW that gun-control does NOT work..

[superstardust]

israel gun laws are very restrictive, even though this article is biased. private owners in israel can only possess 50 rounds at a time, and when they use it up they have to be re-certified by the government. once israelis leave the military after 2 years virtually none of them are certified to carry a weapon.

and most of the schools are not protected by armed guards. usually a student or security officer is posted outside without weapons. security is based on intelligence gathering and stopping attacks before they happen. and if attacks do happen, police can arrive in a few minutes and react instantly - unlike the US where it can take 15-20 mins for the police to arrive.

also, soldiers cannot carry armed rifles outside of their base. they can carry the weapons as long as they dont have the magazine. soldiers can be sent to jail for losing their weapon so many take it with them but without the magazine.

[WhereisOT]

"Israel had a whole lot of school shootings until they did one thing" They said, `We're going to stop it,' and they put armed security in every school and they have not had a problem since then"

Nothing but greedy insane liars are the "leaders" of the nra....Who push lies fear and hate for $$$$$
Overpayed & underworked..Just like the politicians they own..
Doesn't take much sweat to spew horsesh*t for a living...

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt"
(Abraham Lincoln)

[robertsorensen]

The NRA should be declared a terrorist organization.

[NoozNik]

Why ?
Because you **** your shorts ?

Silly child..

[coolguyw7]

This is a load of crap! Again who wrote this crap how did that person get a pay check for this crap? Israel is armed to their teeth and everyone is required to serve in the military for 2 years and even the women are experts with weapons... So please stop the Crap! This is clearly another report to support disarmament in the US !

[AlphaRambo2]

Agreed, agreed. This is some media slant, to sway the sheep, against American ideals. Give us all a break. You have cited some malarkey that the only reason for the armed teachers is terrorists. So, they would not defend against a MADMAN? This kind of journalism, is the absolute worst kind, outright dishonesty. Stop it

[ME123455]

You ever actually been to Israel? No, didn't think so. Yea soldiers are armed, not civilians. Just because they've been trained to fight doesn't mean they all carry guns. Attacks there are for REAL problems and REAL issues. They live in a constant state of war, so nobody has any time to go shoot up a bunch of kids cause they don't have any friends or their mommy didn't love them enough. Israelis have real problems, not like some of the crazy b@stards here in the US who kill for no purpose.

[AZMan55]

Israel--"The NRA is insane to say you should have armed guards in all schools!" NRA--"Does Israel have armed guards in every school?" Israel--"Well, um, yes, but it only works because we have even more armed guards everywhere else!" Seems legit, totally unbiased journalism going on here.

[NoozNik]

AZMan55 says:
Israel--"The NRA is insane to say you should have armed guards in all schools".

=====================

And let's not forget that this paper pnly had praise for Clinton when he asked Congress for %60 Million to increase the number of guards in schools

This is just another example of the selective editing of facts by both the left and the gun-control crowd..

[jmsmith62]

The article says, "Israel's policy on issuing guns is restrictive, and armed guards at its schools are meant to stop terrorists, not crazed or disgruntled gunmen". I'm sure that terrorism is the main reason that Israel has armed guards, in their schools. That being said, if a crazed or disgruntled gunmen shows up, they will be shot just like a terrorist. This article by left wing CBS News, either shows their ignorance or assumes that their readers are too stupid to understand this.

Israel isn't against our Second Amendment Rights. This article also implies that Israel sympathizes with the Left Wing Anti-Second Amendment idiots here. This article is insulting to readers; CBS continues to show their bias. If only they did what they were supposed to do, present the News, without bias and let each reader decide what is right or wrong. No, I'm not insane; I know this will never happen.

Unlike CBS writers, I served this Country, I have possessed all types of firearms since I was 12 years old and I've never harmed anyone with them. I even have "Assault Rifles, with high capacity magazines" and I have never harmed anyone or violated any laws...Ever. Group punishment is not the answer!

I would fully support an Armed Officer, in my children's schools. The NRA legitimate solution.
I do fully support disarming the Secret Service that guard all anti-Second Amendment Politicians, including the Obamas. I know they are not hypocrites so I'm sure they would support this too.

[NoozNik]

spinner-or-winner replies:
Can we tax the rich to support your deficit increasing scheme???

------------------------


LOL
AS IF that is the solution for runaway spending
Even if you "taxed the rich" at 100%, you would not be able to pay the bill for more than a couple of weeks
And the net effect would be that the rich would take their wealth somewhere else out of reach of the taxman..
History CLEARLY shows that this is what happens when the idiots on the left try to justify stealing the wealth of others.
The wealth moves somewhere else and the idiots are left even more poor than before.