The Answer To Terrorist Attacks Is More Armed Civilians

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Is there anything that Americans can do to stop terror attacks?

Is there anything that you can do?

As it turns out, yes.

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In fact, we have a good model to follow — that has worked pretty well over more than four decades — when looking at how to deal with the constant threat of terrorism.

Israel Has Been Dealing With Terrorism Longer Than The USA

From what I have researched, Israel has been dealing with somewhat frequent acts of terrorism since at least the late 60’s. (Maybe you remember the 1972 Munich Olympic kidnappings and killings?)

Unlike the U.S., they don’t have the benefit of two HUGE oceans on either side of them … so it seems as if terrorists can enter the country very easily.

What are they doing that works?

First, let’s discuss what doesn’t work.

Obviously, Gun Control Does NOT Work To Stop Terrorism

Before we get into what does work, let’s discuss what does not work.

Gun control does not work to stop or even make it hard for terrorists.

For example of what NOT to do, let’s look at France.

France has, arguably, some of the most restrictive gun control laws of any nation on earth. A normal civilian like you and I can NOT own a semi-automatic rifle like the AR-15 (the most popular rifle in America) or a Glock handgun (one of the most popular handguns in America) and you certainly can not carry it in public to protect yourself like we can do in America with concealed carry laws.

Does all that gun control keep the French safe?

In a word, no.

The complete list of terrorist attacks in France can be found on Wikipedia but let’s just look at a few from 2015-2016:

  • 7-9 January 2015: 20 Dead/22 Injured: Mass shooting at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo office in Paris, carried out by three Islamist terrorists using AK-47’s and other weapons.
  • 21 August 2015: Attempted train attack from Amsterdam to Paris. Terrorist again had AK-47 and plenty of ammunition.
  • 13-14 November 2015: Series of Shootings, Hostage Taking, and Suicide Bombings by coordinated team of terrorists. AK-47’s, bombs and other weapons used.

None of the gun control laws in France stopped these three events from occurring in the country, where terrorists used fully-automatic AK-47’s. Gun control doesn’t work to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. Period.

Even if gun control did work (it doesn’t), it would not stop terrorist attacks as the latest three attacks from January to July 2016 were all committed with knives (stabbings) and ramming vehicles into innocent people culminating with the Nice attack where 84 people were murdered.

The point being that even if you somehow eliminated all the guns in the world, terrorists would still terrorize using bombs, knives, bats, axes, vehicles and whatever else they can get their hands on.

Now, let’s talk about what does work.

How Israel Deals With Terrorism

As I said, Israel is no stranger to terrorism having dealt with it since at least the late 1960’s …

How do they deal with it?

“The long and short of it is that even though Israel has strict gun control laws there are many armed citizens out about at all times, as anybody that has visited the country can testify to.” writes Jonathan Keiler on AmericanThinker.com.

He goes on to say, “Some of these are on-duty soldiers, but many others are off-duty troops, reservists going to or from depots, a large number of armed civilian security guards, ordinary civilians permitted to carry in certain areas, some public transit and tour bus drivers, and other civilians who served in combat units and can more easily acquire firearms permits.”

The net result of this is that a jihadist attacker in Israel, whether armed with a vehicle, knife or a firearm, is unlikely to last long. Attacks frequently occur, but they are also usually frustrated, almost always with fewer casualties than we see in attacks in other countries, or no casualties at all. Most of these attacks are not even published in the foreign press. When foreign reporters do comment, it is often to lament the disproportionate number of dead Palestinians to Israelis, in the perverse dance of moral equivalency that the leftist media and politicians engage between slain murderers and their victims.

Specifically, in the case of the bulldozer (or front-end loader) attacks on Israelis a few years ago, at least two were ended by armed civilians or off duty soldiers, while most other attacks have been thwarted or shortened by police or on-duty soldiers. The U.S. doesn’t have anything like the number of armed police, paramilitary border police, and armed soldiery in and around its cities as Israel does. But we do have millions of armed civilians who could foil or mitigate such attacks in such a situation. And for those that will say that a civilian with a typical concealed carry handgun (of say modest size and caliber) could not stop a terrorist in a truck, take a look at the video showing the conclusion of the attack in Nice, where police engage the attacker with handguns, likely little different from what many citizens carry in America today. At the very least they could put out a tire, distract or injure the driver, or otherwise reduce the likely deadliness of such an attack.” (Emphasis mine)

Carry a Handgun, It’s Your Best Defense …

Massad Ayoob wrote an article in 2004 discussing how armed civilians can stop terrorist attacks. He says …

This is why the Israelis have learned to shoot first and discuss the matter later when the explosives or the guns come out in the hands of the other side. Not long ago, a woman in a market in Israel saw a man attempting to activate an explosive device strapped to his body. She drew a concealed pistol and shot him dead before he could trigger the suicide bomb, and in so doing she saved countless innocent people from being killed or mutilated. American newspapers referred to her as a “security” person, but the word I get is that she was simply an ordinary lady…with a gun, and the will to use it, and the foresight to have learned to use it properly and effectively.

Many years before, a clutch of terrorists opened fire in a public place in Israel. Guns bloomed everywhere from the concealing garments of honest Israeli citizens. In moments, the terrorists were on the ground bleeding from their gunshot wounds, all dead but one. The wounded survivor said indignantly afterward that no one had told them that their victims might be armed and capable of shooting back.

After the massacre at the Maalot school decades ago, the Israelis developed the policy of having plainclothes volunteer guards in the schools, armed with concealed handguns. They were not hired gun security specialists, but parents and grandparents who had signed up to help protect their children and those of the community. They were trained with their firearms by the civil guard. Since that time, there was no wholesale murder of children in an Israeli school. The one such incident happened on a field trip outside the country, where it would have been known to the murderers that the adult chaperones were not allowed to take the weapons they carried in Israel. Last year, a terrorist gunman opened fire in an Israeli school, and was cut down by civilian volunteer gunfire before he could accumulate a significant death toll.

“The June 2004 issue of the Gottlieb-Tartaro Report carried the following item under the headline Armed Israeli Citizens Help Curb Terrorists: “Israel’s police spokesman Gil Kleiman says that citizens who carry their own guns are helping to curb the damage terrorists can inflict by being able to stop a terrorist situation. ‘We’ve seen it time and time again,’ said Kleiman. ‘Armed civilians who are well trained can save people’s lives. If there isn’t a policeman, civilians can deal immediately with a terrorist.’” Emphasis is Gottlieb’s and Tartaro’s.

“… The citizens of Israel have proven that you don’t need exotic counter-terrorist equipment to deal with scumbags who open fire on the innocent. The typical gun used there successfully by armed citizens is the ordinary 9mm semiautomatic pistol, of any of several makes. The key thing is that it be reliable. Be sure to load it with jacketed hollow point ammunition. It is designed to open up inside an offender’s body and lodge there, instead of tearing out the other side and homing in on an unseen bystander located behind the attacker and out of the shooter’s line of sight. The hollow point is also a more decisive “manstopper.” In shooting after shooting in Israel, terrorists have had to be shot again and again and again before they ceased their hostile actions, because the typical full metal jacket ammunition used there just punches a narrow wound profile like an ice-pick and does not deliver as much energy to surrounding tissues as does the American style bullet with the hollow cavity.”

In Conclusion, Israel Has Proven That Armed Civilians Can Help Counter Terrorism …

Because after all, the police can not be eveywhere at once.

In short, consider the likely fact that if a terrorist attack occurs near you and yours, you are on your own.

Armed civilians have been proven to help counter terrorism, so carry a gun.

That’s the best way to stop terrorist attacks on American soil

May I also suggest that you carry medical trauma gear too.

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Caleb Lee is the #1 best-selling author of "Concealed Carry 101" and founder of PreparedGunOwners.com. He is a civilian (no law enforcement or military experience) who shares information about self-defense and becoming more self-reliant. He's a 1st degree black belt in Taekwondo, NRA Certified Basic Pistol & Personal Protection Inside The Home Instructor, Concealed Carry Academy Instructor certified & also a graduate of the Rangermaster firearms instructor course. He's also the author of numerous online courses including the UndergroundAssaultRifle.com course.

4 COMMENTS

  1. Though the facts stated in this article are true, unfortunately, in states ruled by progressive socialist democrat governors and legislatures, the second amendment has been successfully (as determined by multiple court rulings) reinterpreted to mean:

    The right of the people, to keep a limited low capacity sporting arm securely locked within their home, will be permitted until further restrictions in state law are announced.

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