Stay Armed

for it to blow over catastrophically failed. Those Jews who could fight had a chance at survival. And, even more importantly, they had the opportunity to save their fellow Jews. The Armed Jew isn’t non-threatening. He lives “Never Again” by being ready to fight back. He doesn’t believe in keeping his mouth shut. He knows that freed people are armed people. And free Jews are armed Jews. For thousands of years, Jews couldn’t freely practice their religion, work at their chosen professions, or defend themselves. There are a plethora of Jewish organizations defending civil rights. They worry about every freedom. Except the freedom of self-defense. Instead, many Jews are active in gun control organizations urging the government to take away their right to defend themselves. The first kingdom of Israel was founded when Shaul and Yonatan, the only men in Israel who still had weapons, rose up against the Philistines. (1 Samuel 13) The story was repeated endless times. When Israel fell, Jews lost the right to defend themselves. They were left helpless in the face of their enemies. Today, Jews rightly take pride in the armed young men and women of the Israel Defense Forces. But they often forget that they too have the right to defend themselves. Self-defense is not only a right granted to soldiers. It is one of our rights wherever we are. It is the first premise of freedom. Jews Can Shoot and The Armed Jew Marketplace stands for the reclamation of that most ancient of freedoms. By being an armed Jew, you are striking a blow for the rights of Jews. You are taking back a power that had once seemed forever lost in antiquity. You are taking on the mantle of a Jewish warrior. Be proud of who you are. Be proud that you can do what your ancestors in ghettoes and concentration camps, on Roman slave barges and in Islamic chains, could never have imagined would be possible again. You are an armed Jew. You are a Jew who can shoot.