Gun permit applications surged nearly 1,000 percent in New York’s Jewish community since the December 28, 2019, attack on Hasidic Jews in a rabbi’s home.
The Washington Examiner reports that the surge is clear in Rockland County, the very county in which the rabbi’s home was attacked. The Rockland County Clerk’s office reported the “nearly 1,000 percent increase in gun permit applications in the week following the Dec. 28 attack.”
Erik Melanson, owner of Rockland County’s Precision Gunsmiths, said, “A lot of people are worried, especially the large Hasidic and Jewish community in Rockland County. I have had rabbis come in. Some of the rabbis already have concealed carry [permits].”
On October 27, 2018, an attacker killed 11 innocents at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There was no armed security at the synagogue at the time of the attack.
On April 27, 2019, an attacker killed one innocent and wounded three others by opening fire on Chabad of Poway in San Diego, California.
On December 10, 2019, two attackers killed a Jersey City police officer, then holed up in a Jewish market, where three civilians were killed.
The New York Times reported the December 28, 2019 attack in which a suspect armed with a machete wounded five Hasidic Jews in a rabbi’s home. The victims tried to defend themselves by throwing furniture at the attacker.
On January 8, 2020, Breitbart News reported HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky indicating Americans can carry guns to the synagogue on the Sabbath for self-defense.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.