An Armed Israeli Hero Just Stopped a Mass Killing—And Reminded Us Why Self-Defense Matters

There are many Americans who don’t really get the Second Amendment. For them, it’s about hunting or something, and since you can get meat at the supermarket, there’s no reason for regular folks to have guns. Yet the Second Amendment never mentions hunting at all. It’s an insurance policy against tyranny that also has significant applications against what I call “Tyranny of the Thug.” Basically, it means your ability to defend yourself is also protected. In an era where mass killings occur tragically often, that’s a very good thing. We just witnessed a prime example this week, when an armed citizen shot and killed a terrorist during a deadly knife attack in Israel. Here’s how the Jerusalem Post reported these events: “Four Israelis were killed on Tuesday in a terrorist stabbing attack at a shopping center and gas station in Beersheba, with a number of others injured in the attack. Large forces from the police and Magen David Adom (MDA) arrived at the scene to treat the victims who were pronounced dead after being evacuated to the nearby Soroka Hospital. According to police, the terrorist ran over a man riding on a bicycle before driving to a gas station, exiting the vehicle and stabbing a woman. He then returned to the car, drove to a nearby shopping center, exited the car and stabbed another man and a woman. He then returned to the vehicle, drove away and crashed into another vehicle, exiting the vehicle and stabbing another person before being shot and killed by a civilian passerby.” To be clear, Israel’s gun laws aren’t quite as permissive as ours are. But they do have a thriving gun culture—and now we can clearly see why that’s a good thing. And let’s not pretend this doesn’t happen in the United States. In 2019, a gunman at a church in White Settlement, Texas pulled a shotgun out from underneath his trenchcoat. He then killed two members of the congregation before Jack Wilson, who volunteered as armed security, shot and killed the attacker. In both 2019 and the incident earlier this week, more people likely would have been killed without someone there having a gun. Look at Sutherland Springs in 2017. There, an armed gunman met no initial resistance and killed 26 people including one unborn baby, and wounded 22 others. His rampage ended when he stepped outside of the church and ran into Stephen Wiliford, an NRA firearms instructor who lived across the street and engaged the killer. There are numerous American examples of someone doing something similar to what this armed Israeli did, and for exactly the same reasons. In fact, guns are used in self-defense in the US somewhere between 500,000 and 3 million times per year. (Far more than they’re used in violent gun crimes).  While some want to make gun ownership about any number of things, at the end of the day, it’s about being able to stop someone from denying you your basic freedoms. That includes your life and liberty. Would-be mass murderers, unfortunately, do walk among us. Armed law-abiding civilians do, too. And Americans and Israelis alike should be thankful for that. 

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