Matty Burnhart, Knitted News04.01.22 11:11 B. Bishvat Tishpev
(Photo: Shatterstock)
During 2021, there has been a sharp increase in the number of applications for firearms licenses, according to the Ministry of Homeland Security.
According to the data, this year 19,375 applications were submitted for a license to carry a private firearm. This is compared to the annual average of NIS 9,600 in recent years.
The data probably comes as a result of the loss of confidence in the security forces in Operation The Wall Guard, in May 2021, when 15,849 weapons applications have been filed since that month.
Meanwhile, the ministry stresses that over the past decade, there has been a continuing trend of reducing the number of licenses to carry private firearms. In 2009 there were about 185,000 licenses in the public domain, compared to 148,617 licenses in 2021. The ministry says that the reduction trend stems, among other things, from the focus and accuracy of qualifying criteria for licensing private firearms.
“While the multi-year and consistent decline in the number of holders of personal weapons licenses is an important trend, the increase in the number of firearms license applicants since May this year following Operation Wall Guard stems from a crack in civilians’ sense of security,” said Interior Minister Omar Bar-Lev. “It is our job to mend this rift, to improve the response of internal security forces to incidents and to present this in the best way possible for civilians, so that the sense of personal security will find a cure even without the need to carry personal weapons.”
Did you find a mistake in the article? Does the content in the article infringe your copyright? Encountered an inappropriate advertisement? Report to us