(Washington Post) Ezra Klein - Janet Rosenbaum, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health at the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center School, explains that Israel does not have a high level of gun ownership. You have to have a reason to have a gun. There isn't this idea that you have a right to a gun. There are only a few tens of thousands of legal guns in Israel, and the only people allowed to own them legally live in the settlements, do business in the settlements, or are in professions at risk of violence. And then you need to go back to the permitting authority periodically to assure them the reason is still valid. Ten years ago, when Israel had an outbreak of violence (the Second Intifada), there was an expansion of gun ownership, but only to people above a certain rank in the military. There was no sense that having ordinary citizens carry guns would make anything safer. Israel rejects 40% of its applications for a gun, the highest rate of rejection of any country in the world. And all guns must have an Interior Ministry permit and identifying mark for tracing.
2012-12-17 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive