2004-01-27, 09:45
#1
Eftersom frågan har uppkommit flera gånger tidigare så:
Having read countless pros and cons articles on firearm and concealed carry regulation in the USA, I would like to mention Israel's status quo on gun control as follows:
Israel is a country with a low but increasing rate of violent crime. There is a moderate to high rate of terrorism-linked crime, with a mortality and injury rate comparable to (but lower than) that of road accidents. Israel is a state with few friends and many enemies in its region, some of which it has no closed, secure borders with.
All firearms are registered and kept under strict governmental control. Regular citizens cannot possess or carry arms without good reason. There is one notable exception to this rule, and several good reasons, which I shall list.
1. Military service.
Able-bodies males and females are required (with exceptions) to serve in Israel's armed forces from the age of 18-21 (20 for females). Thereafter, men are required to serve in reserves for up to the age of 45-50. In military service, the bearing of arms is mandatory for combat and combat support personnel. Weapons are carried on leave from active duty. This leads to citizens carrying automatic weapons for a small part of their time (say 5 days a year out of a 30 day reserve service), but automatic weapons in citizen hands are not readily noticeable in the streets. Automatic weapons are usually required to be kept unloaded. Off-duty reserve personnel are almost never allowed to carry military weapons, unless living in hazardous areas.
2. Good reasons (handgun permits).
A. Police and civilian security personnel. These employees may carry firearms (normally handguns) in the call of duty, and even off duty. Once they leave their occupations, they are no longer permitted to carry arms.
B. Occupation: bus drivers, ammunition transport drivers, precious metal dealers, firemen etc.
C. Civil guard volunteers. A national police militia, the civil guard issues volunteers with semiautomatic carbines and/or handguns while on duty. Veteran volunteers (3-5 years minimal duty) qualify for a privately owned handgun permit.
D. Residency / employment in hazardous regions - these include the Occupied Territories (West Bank and Gaza Strip), surrounding areas and frontier settlements on Israel's less quiet borders.
E. Ex-military personnel - officers ranking Lieutenant Colonel and above, police and prison service equivalents, and reserve officers of Captain rank and above, even when off duty. Noncommissioned officers who have served in elite military units may also qualify.
F. Hunters are allowed to own shotguns.
Government weapons may also be lent to groups of people going on organized trips inland. These are usually semiautomatic carbines.
Handgun permit applications are handled by the Ministry of Interior. Requirements as above are stringent and absolute. Absence of a criminal record and a clean bill of mental health are also required. The general population failing to meet the criteria above cannot legally acquire or carry handguns. Handgun permits expire and must be renewed periodically.
There are few restrictions on handgun ownership, which I shall list:
1. Generally, only one handgun may be owned. This means that there is virtually no market for backup pieces, such as pocket revolvers or large magnums. More than half of Israel's privately-owned handguns are 9mm semiautomatic pistols.
2. A civilian may fire only on approved firing ranges, and may purchase up to 100 rounds a year for personal storage.
3. Any incident involving an armed civilian, even if no gunplay is involved, results in the handgun being confiscated by the police until investigations are concluded. Needless to say, any foulplay may result in permanent confiscation.
4. Should the criterion for issuing a handgun permit expire, the handgun must be deposited at a police station or sold.
5. Extension of handgun permits require inspection by an armorer and practice shooting.
6. It is illegal to leave a firearm unattended in a parked vehicle. Having a handgun stolen results in exhaustive investigation, but not mandatory banning.
Notable leniencies are as follows:
1. There is no legislation concerning concealed carry. Once you are permitted to carry an arm, you may do so as you see fit. Even carrying a chambered weapon is legal (although very strongly discouraged by professionals).
2. There is no limit concerning magazine capacity. Even a 40-round magazine fitted into an Uzi pistol is permitted.
3. There are few public places prohibiting civilian entry with handguns. Notable exceptions are some government offices, including courts and international ports.
4. Often, weapons that would be classified as carbines or semiautomatic submachine guns are licensed as pistols. The Uzi pistol (a semiauto version of the Micro-Uzi submachine gun) is an example. However, few citizens opt to purchase large weapons that cannot be effectively concealed. Brandishing is not an offense, but is socially discouraged. One is allowed to fit a pistol with telescopic sights, a buttstock and an extended barrel.
My personal opinions:
1. Gun owners tend to be polite and avoid confrontations. It is very rare for a gun owner to resort to the use or threat of use of a firearm. Even in shooting sprees by terrorists, civilians have avoided drawing their arms in order not to be identified mistakenly as terrorists. There have been a few incidents of unlawful use of firearms by legal owners.
2. A. Israel, although establishing tough criteria for ownership, does not discourage private firearm ownership. Its current government encourages the controversial relocation of Jews into the occupied territories that have been subject to dispute with the Palestinan residents.
B. Furthermore, the entire Israeli public, irrespective of age, creed, faith or nationality is subjected to security inspections when entering buildings, campuses, malls and the like. Off-duty reserve army personnel are not exempt. In the absence of a valid firearm permit, this includes bag inspections, wand searches, pat downs, and questioning (from the most to the least common). Most Israelis consider the resulting invasion of privacy minimal and justified, as long as it deters terrorists. Terrorists have managed to smuggle deadly weapons into guarded facilities, however, and undercover police conducting point checks of security regulations succeed in doing so on a regular basis. People bearing arms are exempt from any searches once they have shown a valid firearms permit and ID. This can be viewed as another sublime encouragement of fulfilling firearm owning criteria.
3. Members of minorities, including Muslim and Christian Arabs, Druzes and Bedouins, are subject to the same firearms laws as Jews. Many Arab hunters legally own shotguns, and armed Arab security guards are commonplace. It is not unusual for Arab security guards to search the possessions of Jewish military veterans when entering public institutes. Arabs serve in Israel's police and army in small but significant numbers. Israel's Ministry of Interior does not deny firearms permits on the basis of religion (although it has been criticized on many other issues of religious discrimination).
4. Criminals, including armed robbers, terrorists and the like will think twice about committing an offense if they see firearms at the scene. However, few, if any civilians would use a firearm to thwart or intervene in an armed robbery. There have been countless cases of civilians killing terrorists with private-owned firearms, although in most cases, such "takedowns" have been performed by military or law-enforcement personnel. An exception to the success of the presence of firearms in crime prevention is suicide bombers, where no successful means of prevention have been devised.
Having read countless pros and cons articles on firearm and concealed carry regulation in the USA, I would like to mention Israel's status quo on gun control as follows:
Israel is a country with a low but increasing rate of violent crime. There is a moderate to high rate of terrorism-linked crime, with a mortality and injury rate comparable to (but lower than) that of road accidents. Israel is a state with few friends and many enemies in its region, some of which it has no closed, secure borders with.
All firearms are registered and kept under strict governmental control. Regular citizens cannot possess or carry arms without good reason. There is one notable exception to this rule, and several good reasons, which I shall list.
1. Military service.
Able-bodies males and females are required (with exceptions) to serve in Israel's armed forces from the age of 18-21 (20 for females). Thereafter, men are required to serve in reserves for up to the age of 45-50. In military service, the bearing of arms is mandatory for combat and combat support personnel. Weapons are carried on leave from active duty. This leads to citizens carrying automatic weapons for a small part of their time (say 5 days a year out of a 30 day reserve service), but automatic weapons in citizen hands are not readily noticeable in the streets. Automatic weapons are usually required to be kept unloaded. Off-duty reserve personnel are almost never allowed to carry military weapons, unless living in hazardous areas.
2. Good reasons (handgun permits).
A. Police and civilian security personnel. These employees may carry firearms (normally handguns) in the call of duty, and even off duty. Once they leave their occupations, they are no longer permitted to carry arms.
B. Occupation: bus drivers, ammunition transport drivers, precious metal dealers, firemen etc.
C. Civil guard volunteers. A national police militia, the civil guard issues volunteers with semiautomatic carbines and/or handguns while on duty. Veteran volunteers (3-5 years minimal duty) qualify for a privately owned handgun permit.
D. Residency / employment in hazardous regions - these include the Occupied Territories (West Bank and Gaza Strip), surrounding areas and frontier settlements on Israel's less quiet borders.
E. Ex-military personnel - officers ranking Lieutenant Colonel and above, police and prison service equivalents, and reserve officers of Captain rank and above, even when off duty. Noncommissioned officers who have served in elite military units may also qualify.
F. Hunters are allowed to own shotguns.
Government weapons may also be lent to groups of people going on organized trips inland. These are usually semiautomatic carbines.
Handgun permit applications are handled by the Ministry of Interior. Requirements as above are stringent and absolute. Absence of a criminal record and a clean bill of mental health are also required. The general population failing to meet the criteria above cannot legally acquire or carry handguns. Handgun permits expire and must be renewed periodically.
There are few restrictions on handgun ownership, which I shall list:
1. Generally, only one handgun may be owned. This means that there is virtually no market for backup pieces, such as pocket revolvers or large magnums. More than half of Israel's privately-owned handguns are 9mm semiautomatic pistols.
2. A civilian may fire only on approved firing ranges, and may purchase up to 100 rounds a year for personal storage.
3. Any incident involving an armed civilian, even if no gunplay is involved, results in the handgun being confiscated by the police until investigations are concluded. Needless to say, any foulplay may result in permanent confiscation.
4. Should the criterion for issuing a handgun permit expire, the handgun must be deposited at a police station or sold.
5. Extension of handgun permits require inspection by an armorer and practice shooting.
6. It is illegal to leave a firearm unattended in a parked vehicle. Having a handgun stolen results in exhaustive investigation, but not mandatory banning.
Notable leniencies are as follows:
1. There is no legislation concerning concealed carry. Once you are permitted to carry an arm, you may do so as you see fit. Even carrying a chambered weapon is legal (although very strongly discouraged by professionals).
2. There is no limit concerning magazine capacity. Even a 40-round magazine fitted into an Uzi pistol is permitted.
3. There are few public places prohibiting civilian entry with handguns. Notable exceptions are some government offices, including courts and international ports.
4. Often, weapons that would be classified as carbines or semiautomatic submachine guns are licensed as pistols. The Uzi pistol (a semiauto version of the Micro-Uzi submachine gun) is an example. However, few citizens opt to purchase large weapons that cannot be effectively concealed. Brandishing is not an offense, but is socially discouraged. One is allowed to fit a pistol with telescopic sights, a buttstock and an extended barrel.
My personal opinions:
1. Gun owners tend to be polite and avoid confrontations. It is very rare for a gun owner to resort to the use or threat of use of a firearm. Even in shooting sprees by terrorists, civilians have avoided drawing their arms in order not to be identified mistakenly as terrorists. There have been a few incidents of unlawful use of firearms by legal owners.
2. A. Israel, although establishing tough criteria for ownership, does not discourage private firearm ownership. Its current government encourages the controversial relocation of Jews into the occupied territories that have been subject to dispute with the Palestinan residents.
B. Furthermore, the entire Israeli public, irrespective of age, creed, faith or nationality is subjected to security inspections when entering buildings, campuses, malls and the like. Off-duty reserve army personnel are not exempt. In the absence of a valid firearm permit, this includes bag inspections, wand searches, pat downs, and questioning (from the most to the least common). Most Israelis consider the resulting invasion of privacy minimal and justified, as long as it deters terrorists. Terrorists have managed to smuggle deadly weapons into guarded facilities, however, and undercover police conducting point checks of security regulations succeed in doing so on a regular basis. People bearing arms are exempt from any searches once they have shown a valid firearms permit and ID. This can be viewed as another sublime encouragement of fulfilling firearm owning criteria.
3. Members of minorities, including Muslim and Christian Arabs, Druzes and Bedouins, are subject to the same firearms laws as Jews. Many Arab hunters legally own shotguns, and armed Arab security guards are commonplace. It is not unusual for Arab security guards to search the possessions of Jewish military veterans when entering public institutes. Arabs serve in Israel's police and army in small but significant numbers. Israel's Ministry of Interior does not deny firearms permits on the basis of religion (although it has been criticized on many other issues of religious discrimination).
4. Criminals, including armed robbers, terrorists and the like will think twice about committing an offense if they see firearms at the scene. However, few, if any civilians would use a firearm to thwart or intervene in an armed robbery. There have been countless cases of civilians killing terrorists with private-owned firearms, although in most cases, such "takedowns" have been performed by military or law-enforcement personnel. An exception to the success of the presence of firearms in crime prevention is suicide bombers, where no successful means of prevention have been devised.
