Front Sight Firearms Training Institute is a premier firearms and self-defense training institution.
There is only one way to live by the declaration "Never Again": gun-hating Jews must repent of their naive foolishness. We must encourage all Righteous Americans, Jew and Gentile alike, religious or not, to exercise their right to firearms ownership. And we must somberly embrace the resolve to use those arms in righteous defense should that horrific day ever come, G-d forbid.
- Rabbi Dovid Bendory, Rabbinic Director, Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership
Self defense is a Biblical principle found in the Torah and Jewish thought: Under Jewish Law there is an absolute obligation for a private citizen to assist another in trouble: "You shall not stand by [the shedding of] your fellow's blood. I am the Lord (Leviticus 19:16)" and as Rashi comments, quoting the legal texts of the Talmud "You shall not stand by [the shedding of] your fellow's blood. [I.e., do not stand by,] watching your fellow's death, when you are able to save him; for example, if he is drowning in the river or if a wild beast or robbers come upon him. - Torath Kohanim 19:41; Sanh. 73a]"
Front Sight Firearms Training Institute is a premier firearms and self-defense training institution.
Please note: These articles are written from the perspective of Bruce R. Booker and do not necessarily represent the viewpoint of all the members of Beth Yeshua Messianic Congregation in Priest River, ID. The leadership of Beth Yeshua requests that no one carry a weapon at congregation functions unless they have a Concealed Carry Permit that is honored by the State of Idaho. Thank you!
We are absolutely not advocating a "Wild West" gunslinging, rootin', tootin', shootin' mentality. We are simply stating that if someone (or someones) come into the congregation with intent to do harm, we should be prepared to quickly put an end to it.
There is a real-life incident that indicates that it would be prudent to be prepared for any eventuality. For instance, in 1997, a Messianic Congregation in Texas got shot up by a gunman:
From The Dallas Morning News Online MAN SHOOTS AT SYNAGOGUE BEFORE SERVICE No one injured; suspect is charged on 2 counts By Michael Saul / The Dallas Morning News
A rifle-wielding man wearing army fatigues fired shots at a Far North Dallas synagogue while repeatedly shouting "Die, Jews, die," as hundreds gathered for a service Saturday morning, police said.
Members of the Baruch Ha Shem Messianic Congregation, in the 6300 block of Belt Line Road, said it was a miracle that nobody was injured. But the incident is a reminder of the senseless hate and anti-Semitism that continue to plague the nation.
"I don't know if he wanted to kill anybody or just wanted to instill fear in people," said Sheryl Selk, 37, who sat in her car as she watched the man shoot at the synagogue and clench his fists in a Nazi-like salute. "He could have killed somebody if he wanted to."
Donald Ray Anderson, 48, was arrested at the scene and was being held at Lew Sterrett Justice Center on Saturday afternoon. He was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and deadly conduct. His bail was set at $200,000.
"It is a real eye-opener that it could happen in Dallas, but it did," Ms. Selk said. "It was scary."
The FBI has opened a civil-rights investigation, said Special Agent Marjorie Poche.
An official at the synagogue, who asked not to be identified, estimated that between 250 and 300 members, including children, were in the building at the time of the incident. Members took cover by getting on the floor, but nobody panicked, she said.
"He was right in front of the door shooting," she said. "Praise God nobody was killed. . . . It could have been much worse."
The incident occurred shortly after 10:30 a.m. Children would normally have been playing outside but were inside the building at the time because of the rain, members said.
"We don't know what would have happened if the kids were outside," Ms. Selk said.
Authorities estimated damage to the building and the synagogue's sign totaled about $300. Bullets shattered glass and holes could clearly be seen near a Star of David on the building.
Ms. Selk said she saw the gunman attempt to reload as police were arriving.
Arriving officers found the gunman standing in the parking lot holding the rifle. He threw down the rifle when an officer drew his weapon, police said.
One witness told police that she was walking in the courtyard when she noticed a man walking behind her carrying the rifle. She began walking faster when she looked over her shoulder and saw him raise the rifle in the air and fire five times.
He was shouting, 'Die, Jews, die," over and over, the woman told police.
Hal Yablon, who arrived at the scene about an hour after the incident, said the service was uplifting.
"The idea of fear or what took place did not really manifest itself after we got there," said Mr. Yablon, 63. "You really wouldn't have known that something had happened by the mood. We went into rejoicing the Lord through hymns and song."
Mr. Selk said she too noticed how spiritual the mood was following the incident.
"We just continued on like it was a normal Saturday," she said. "But we will never be the same."
Mr. Yablon said one woman told him that she could see the hate in the gunman's face.
"The lady in front of me said, for whatever it's worth, the look on the guy's face was terrible, just hateful, almost demonic," Mr. Yablon said. "It could have been a blood bath."
I can state that just one congregant with a concealed permit and handgun training could have brought this incident to a quick end as it did about a decade later (2007) in Colorado Springs:
"At New Life Church in Colorado Springs, the pastor became concerned after a bizarre double murder some miles away at an affiliated institution, Youth With A Mission (YWAM) just after midnight on Sunday, December 9. Several members of his congregation with concealed handgun permits were prepared for trouble when Matthew Murray, a young man with a history of mental illness, showed up to continue his killing spree armed with an assault rifle and two handguns. He shot three people in the parking lot, killing two teenaged sisters and wounding their father.
"Murray appears to have been quite organized; he set off smoke grenades as diversions, and was carrying 1000 rounds of ammunition. As he entered the church, one of the concealed weapon permit holders who was a volunteer providing security because of the YWAM incident, Jeanne Assam, saw him. "I just prayed for the Holy Spirit to guide me. I said, 'Holy Spirit, please be with me.'" Assam then approached, and opened fire. While none of the five shots she fired killed Murray, they did put him out of action - and Murray then killed himself, rather than be taken into custody and face trial."
Church members train with Sheriff Deputies
BOSSIER CITY, La. (AP) - Members of Bossier Parish churches
trained with sheriff's deputies Saturday to prepare themselves for
the unlikely event someone might threaten their congregations with
violence.
The class follows a law that went into effect in July allowing
guns to be carried inside houses of worship across the state. Those
attending already held concealed-carry permits and have experience
with guns.
"Over the past several years, the violence has gotten worse and
worse" said Jim Middleton, a retired member of the Elm Grove
Baptist Church in south Bossier Parish. "I'd rather be proactive
than working after the fact. We're all in God's army, and you don't
see any army going to war unarmed."
Middleton said his church has discussed security, including
possibly adding a security detail to services. He said he wanted to
be ready to serve in that capacity if asked.
The class included lessons on physiological changes during
violent encounters, lessons on control tactics like pressure points
and takedowns and the justifications for a physical response to
dangerous situations. On the range, they practiced controlled
shooting, reload drills, drawing techniques and speed drills.
"Each and every one of you here are patriots because you care
to provide protection to the innocent," said state Rep. Henry
Burns, the author of the legislation. He visited the class to thank
them. "We should be able to worship our Lord without fear."
Burns called churches a "manageable area of concern" when it
comes to gun regulation and said an increased level of violence
against worshippers nationally made the new law necessary and
appropriate.
Middleton said those who oppose the bill aren't living in
reality.
Dawn Boyter, a member of the Southern Methodist Church in
Haughton, agreed and said her church asked her to take the class
because of her previous firearms experience.
"If I were a criminal and was trying to make a statement, I'd
pick a school or a church, somewhere that's a gun-free zone,"
Boyter said. "People are going to think twice if they know a
church is armed."
She said her church still is in the early stages of creating a
safety plan.
Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Ed Baswell, a pastor at the Clarion
Baptist Church in south Bossier Parish, said the new measures might
be appropriate for some churches and not for others. He said his
small church likely won't take part.
He said the sheriff's office isn't advocating weapons in
churches, but wanted to provide proper training to congregations
that plan to take advantage of the law.
In the first of several planned Church Security Training
Sessions at the Bossier sheriff's gun range, the 20 trainees sat
through several classroom hours before taking their weapons to the
range.
Crazy? No. Not fearful, either. Just prudent, for we just happen to be in an area of the country near where the Aryan Nations headquarters was and we know of Neo-Nazis in this area (and they know where we are).
Stormfront.org, a Neo-Nazi organization writes in their article about Jews and gun-control By way of deception thou shalt do war.
Disarming us just makes it easier for them to engineer another Holocaust, as did the Nazi regime. A case again, as in the previous Holocaust where the victims aid and abet the perpetrators. How soon we forget! Or, do we as Jews have a "martyr complex"?
We are going down the same path as Nazi Germany in 1938 with its gun control laws. For a comparison of the Nazi Gun Control Law of 1938 and our Gun Control Act of 1968, you must go to this JPFO page.
"Tikkun olam" ("fixing the world") by gun-control is merely going to disarm the potential victims. The criminals will still get their guns.
On another neo-Nazi/Aryan Website several years ago, I found this blog:
"There's too many jews in Idaho already.
"BOISE - OR HA-OLAM MESSIANIC JEWISH FELLOWSHIP, Leaders Jack & Shirley Kaufman, For Information Call: (208) 376-5053
"COEUR D' ALENE - BETH SHALOM MESSIANIC FELLOWSHIP, Messianic Leader: John Popp, E-mail: jpopp@zol.com, Website: www.geocities.com/bethshalomsp, Meets at 1:00 P.M. Saturday at the First Asembly of G-D Church at 2200 N. 7th St, Coeur d' Alene
"KOOSKIA - MISHKAN ELOHIM, Messianic Rabbi Jim Talbott, P.O. Box 99, Kooskia, ID 83539, Meets at: Valley Bible Church, Kooskia, ID, Phone: (208) 935-7950, call for details or E-mail: jtalbott@cybrquest.com
"PRIEST RIVER, ID / NEWPORT, WA - BETH YESHUA MESSIANIC FELLOWSHIP, Messianic Rabbi: Bruce R. Booker, Ph.D., E-mail: brucebooker@msn.com, Website: www.bethyeshua-idaho.com, Meets at 3:00 p.m. Saturdays: Life Prep Academy, 3461 Coyote Trail, Newport, WA 99156. For questions call: (208) 448-0527I seem to recall a news item about the new owner of the seized McGuckin property being sold for back taxes to some wealthy jew from New Jersey... wondering if he should develop it as vacation property or sell it to a timber company."
While many Jews in America are liberal and rabidly pro-gun control (think "Shumer," "Feinstein," "Boxer," "Lieberman," "Bloomberg") there are Jewish rabbis and people who realize that there is more danger in a disarmed populace than in one that is armed to defend themselves.
One such organization of which I am a member is Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO) and you don't have to be a Jewish person to be a member!
JPFO has an Orthodox rabbi on staff and presents a Scriptural basis for self-defense. Their home page is: JPFO.
They have an excellent article on their website entitled Death by Gun Control. More people have died by a tyrranical government (their own) and a disarmed populace than by any other method. More than crime, suicide, murder (Columbine, Virginia Tech, etc.) combined! Will you be safer if all the citizens of the United States of America are disarmed? You won't.
Norway has some of the toughest gun control laws in the world, yet a massacre took place which killed 91 people!
Cal Thomas wrote an interesting article in the Wichita Eagle about how Norway's tough gun control laws actually enabled the perpetrator in the carrying out of this massacre! No one there was armed to stop him. They were defenseless!
Furthermore, I would strongly recommend that you read about the real issues of the Second Amendment.
(And just in case black people feel safe and secure with a disarmed America [as do many liberal black people - think "Obama," "Jackson," "Sharpton"] where only the government has guns (read this article: Guns in America African-Americans are more likely to back gun control), and I would also encourage you view the article in the Federal Observer entitled Truth is Stranger than Fiction: The Racist Roots of Gun Control.
Another good source of information is from the JPFO DVD No Guns for Negroes. It will be quite eye-opening.)