. Israel OKs 60,000 more gun permits in terror fight
Washington Times
March 7, 2002
Byline: Abraham Rabinovich
JERUSALEM - Sixty thousand additional gun permits are to be distributed to
Israeli civilians as authorities loosen licensing restrictions to help
fight a growing wave of terrorism. Top Stories
Armed civilians have played a significant role in bringing down terrorists
during the Palestinian uprising, most recently during an attack this week
by a Palestinian gunman at a Tel Aviv restaurant where a wedding party was
under way.
A 46-year-old civilian packing a pistol fatally shot the terrorist at
close range after three persons had been killed and he had been wounded.
When a radio reporter asked the man whether he was a member of the
security forces, he said he was a shoe salesman.
Police and Interior Ministry officials decided this week to make 60,000
more gun permits available to civilians, particularly reserve army
officers and veterans of combat units. Guns also are being issued to
firemen and municipal inspectors while they are on duty.
Most Israelis are army veterans and are familiar with firearms. Already,
265,000 guns are in civilian hands, particularly in border areas and the
occupied territories. With terror now striking the Israeli heartland
almost daily, officials decided to make more guns available there as well.
Police Inspector-General Shlomo Aharonisky cited a danger that some people
would be too quick to use the weapons.
"But," he said, "there's no question that weapons in the hands of the
public have prevented acts of terror or stopped them while they were in
progress. Chance passers-by have killed terrorists in the midst of gun
attacks."
New bylaws obliging large businesses to post armed guards outside their
premises are soon to go into effect.
The laws will apply to any business with more than 5,000 square feet of
floor space as well as hotels, cinemas and other locations that draw large
crowds. Police patrols are being stepped up around schools, including
kindergartens.
Adi Eldar, mayor of the city of Karmiel in Galilee, has asked all city
officials to carry weapons during working hours.
Mr. Eldar, head of the Union of Local Authorities, has called on all
mayors in the country to do likewise.
One-third of the nation's 6,000 bus drivers also carry personal weapons to
work.
Despite the uneasiness caused by the terror attacks, the public is not
panicked. The dominant sentiment appears to be a desire to strike back at
the Palestinians.
That mood was captured in an article published yesterday in the newspaper
Yediot Ahronot under the headline, "What to do [when facing] an armed
terrorist."
In the article, a retired police officer said civilians firing at armed
terrorists might hit other civilians but argued that the risk had to be
accepted.
Another retired police officer assured a radio interviewer that an easing
of licensing restrictions would not put weapons in the hands of criminals.
"Every criminal who wants a weapon already has one," he said.