In the wake of the October 7th Hamas terrorist attack on Israelis and a subsequent rise in antisemitic incidents across the United States, a growing number of American Jews are arming themselves.
This trend is evidenced by increased firearm purchases, participation in firearm safety courses, and visits to shooting ranges.
David Kowalsky, proprietor of the Florida Gun Store in Hollywood, Florida, reported a significant uptick in firearm purchases among religious Jewish and Orthodox individuals. "Weve definitely seen a tremendous increase in religious Jewish people, Orthodox people purchasing firearms. Ive seen a surge in individual training as well as group training," Kowalsky told NBC News.
Kowalsky, along with other firearm instructors nationwide, noted that many of these new gun owners had never previously handled a firearm, and some had even advocated for gun control. "These are mothers, teachers, the majority of them are mostly people who have never interacted with firearms or thought about owning them. Theres a safety concern. I think people are nervous about whats going on and what can happen," Kowalsky added.
Endi Tennenhaus, a preschool teacher, shared with NBC News that she had organized a firearm safety class for women at her synagogue. Her husband, the congregation's rabbi, had already arranged for a men's group to visit a local shooting range. Tennenhaus, a mother of seven, stated that approximately 25 to 30 women attended the introductory class.
An unidentified 41-year-old Jewish woman in Miami Beach, who identifies as pro-gun control and had never previously considered owning a firearm, decided to sign up for a firearm training session after receiving death threats on Instagram for posting about her Jewish identity.
Rabbi Yossi Eilfort in Los Angeles, California, whose nonprofit offers firearm training to the Jewish community, reported receiving over 600 calls in the past week. Similarly, Chicago police officer Danniel Lombard, who operates DAVAD Civilian Defense, a firearm training company, has seen a significant increase in interest from the local Jewish community.
David Prince, who manages the Eagle Gun Range in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, reported a 300 percent increase in demand since the Hamas attacks.
The Anti-Defamation League recorded 107 antisemitic incidents across the country since the October 7th Hamas attack. In the first 18 hours following the surprise attack, there was a 488 percent increase in threats against Jews, Israelis, and Zionists on Telegram.
The FBI recently released statistics showing that anti-Jewish incidents were the most common religion-related hate crime. In response, President Joe Biden stated, "Today, the FBI released their annual statistics on hate crimes. Antisemitic hate crimes rose 25 percent from 2021 to 2022, and Antisemitism accounted for over half of all reported religion-based hate crimes."
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