Gabriella Hoffman - Jewish Markswoman and Second Amendment Advocate

Gabriella Hoffman is Jewish "conservative activist/blogger," who has been "shooting since age 19." You can read more about her biography at her blog: http://thegabriellahoffman.com/about/ and her current job https://www.leadershipinstitute.org/contactus/staff.cfm?staff=511574.

One of her recent columns is "More Guns, Less Tyranny" available at TownHall.com. I believe she was interviewed by an NRA podcast about that article, and will try to follow up with an audio link if I can find it. She has written many other pro-gun columns you can easily find via google.

Gabriella joins a growing list of influential Jewish columnists who staunchly support the Second Amendment (including Ben Shapiro, Mark Levin, Debbie Schlussel, Dennis Prager and others). She is further proof that contrary to many misinformed narratives, American Jews are at the forefront of Second Amendment support.

William Warshal - National Champion Revolver Shooter

According to The Jewish Transcript, a Seattle paper dated June 23, 1933, Warshal was:

"the first Jew to be on the national junior championship team of the United States Revolver Association." 

According to The Jewish Floridian paper, dated October 25, 1935, then:

"rank[ed] as the nation's number one Jewish marksman, having won the national championship for picket revolver shooting at the U.S. Revolver Association's meet."

I didn't find much else. Anyone with information please feel free to comment.

Tablet Magazine Contributor Liel Leibovitz Advises Guns for Europeans (Jewish & Gentile)

Dedicated readers know that earlier this year the Jewish community began discussing the need for European Jews to arm themselves.  In January, I informed readers that European Rabbi Manachem Margolin had petitioned European leadership to make special accommodations for Jews to arm themselves in the wake of the Paris kosher supermarket shootings.  Later that month, Tablet contributor Liel Leibowitz wrote in support of that same notion.

My January piece also was clear that in my opinion, Margolin's aim was too narrow, i.e. I advocate that all Europeans should have a right to self defense with firearms.  Leibowitz has now reached the same conclusion in another Tablet piece.  Glad he came around.

It is worth noting that Leibowitz's motive for the expansion of gun rights in Europe is grounded in self-defense from terrorism (and one would assume, other violent crimes).  But this misses another major principle embodied in America's 2nd Amendment, which is the right of the citizenry to collectively defend themselves against tyrannical government.  It's beyond the scope of this blog to delve into this last issue, I merely point it out as one anecdote of where Jewish thinking may currently be on the subject.

I think it is worth a few minutes to click on the links above to Leibovitz's Tablet articles from February and yesterday.  The more influential Jews we have opening their minds to permissive firearms policies, the better.  And the more Europeans are allowed to arm themselves, the less we have to listen to the anti-gun lobby's irrelevant comparisons of US and European gun laws!

Jewish Marksman Arie Friedman Defends the Second Amendment Against Illinois Suburb

Anyone informed on gun policy knows that Chicago and its surrounding suburbs (aka Chicagoland) have some of the country's most restrictive gun laws.  I'll refrain from comment, and simply leave it to the reader to draw her own conclusions with respect to such laws and Chicagoland's appalling murder rate.  Suffice to say that Chicagoland has convinced itself that more gun laws will save lives, and is willing to spend millions of tax payer dollars defending laws of dubious constitutionality and efficacy.

One Jewish gun owner, Arie Freidman, is fighting back in court, challenging one suburb's irrational restrictions on magazine capacity and certain semi-automatic rifles, including the AR-15.  (Longtime readers will recall that advocate all Jews own an AR-15).  Specifically, Friedman is appealing the decision of an Illinois federal appellate court to the US Supreme Court.  The legal issues are beyond the scope of this blog's purpose (though as an attorney I do have some thoughts...).  A general summary of the issues is here.

Keep in mind that all lawsuits require fuel to keep going: money, emotional will, and time.  We have no way of knowing what is happening behind the scenes, but it is fair to assume that Friedman is at a minimum fighting the good fight by serving as the plaintiff, and maybe more.  At this time it is not certain whether the US Supreme Court will even hear the case.  Hopefully Friedman will earn a victory for all of the oppressed people of Illinois.

Jewish Markswoman Hannah Black Continues Success!

Collegiate rifle star Hannah Black has been putting up some great scores lately!  Highlights from the article:

• Hannah Black turned in the top score in smallbore with a personal-best 592. Black tops her previous high of 585 to post the sixth-best smallbore mark in program history.

• “Hannah Black continues to refuse to accept anything but the best from herself with two strong air rifle scores and a nice first place finish with her 592 smallbore score at Ole Miss,” said Monez.

• Over the weekend, five Horned Frogs established personal bests in aggregate score. Black topped her career high of 1,181 with a 1,185 on Sunday

Mazal Tov!

Bullets & Bagels Jewish Gun Club Meetup this Month!

I recently received an email from a California-based Jewish Gun Club.  Check it out:

We are pleased to introduce a unique and exciting new club to the Orange and Los Angeles County Jewish Community.  Bullets & Bagels is the first noshing, networking and shooting club for Jews!

Our vision is to encourage Jews to learn the value of firearms as a sport and social medium, as well as how to use them to defend ourselves, our families and our communities. We seek to take the fear out of firearms by educating our members in safety and self-defense techniques. At the same time, we emphasize the various sporting aspects of firearms. It is all done in a supervised, friendly, supportive environment of fellow Jews. The club holds bimonthly events, featuring fascinating guest speakers. Among them are rabbis, historical figures, local and federal law enforcement representatives, certified firearms instructors, and other experts.  At our events, we provide great nosherei, kibitzing and networking. We welcome all ages, genders, religious denominations and those with all levels of firearms experience from first-time beginners to consummate experts.

Which brings me to the point of this letter. As our goal is to dramatically increase our membership base over the following year, I sincerely invite and encourage you to share the news about Bullets & Bagels with your readership on your blog. Those who are interested can learn more at www.BulletsnBagels.com.

Our next event takes place Sunday, August 23, 2015 at Raahauges Range in Corona California. We are co-hosting the event with Israel Weapons Industries makers of the famous Tavor close quarters combat rifle.  We will be auctioning one Tavor rifle off proceeds earmarked for the FIDF.  Springfield Armory, Leica Optics, Pelican Cases and City Girl Prepper will be there too.

 Those interested may sign up using our “SIGN-UP” form on the club website, and mention their interest in attending the June event.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call either me at 424-227-2797 or email at info@bulletsnbagels.com. Thank you for your consideration, and don't worry —— kosher food is provided!  We hope to see you there, too.

B’ Shalom,

Fred R Kogen, M.D.
Fred R. Kogen
President
www.BulletsandBagels.com
www.facebook.com/BulletsandBagels

http://www.lamag.com/digestblog/ready-aim-schmear-bullets-bagels-is-the-gun-club-for-noshing-enthusiasts/

http://www.jewishjournal.com/culture/article/bullets_and_bagels_the_jewish_shooting_club

Jewish Marksmen Prominent in Newsmax Top 100 Gun Rights Advocates List

A news publication called Newsmax recently published a list of who it considers the top 100 most influential gun rights advocates.  I identified at least three Jews:

14. Mark Levin, conservative talk radio host and Constitutional attorney, a gun owner and strong supporter of the Second Amendment.

22. Ben Shapiro, editor-at-large of Breitbart News, who is a strong supporter of the right to bear arms.

69. Steven Spielberg, movie producer and director, is a skeet shooter and owns a large arsenal of weapons, including guns from each of his movies. Fabbri, the luxury Italian gunmaker, has a photo of Spielberg on their website holding one of his custom Fabbri guns with a "Jurassic Park" engraving.

The article does not say how the list was assembled.  Frankly, there were quite a few names I've never heard of, and some who might be a little iffy.  Personally I think there are a number of Jews that were left off the list who could have been included, but it was nice to see those listed above.

Mazal tov to all of the list members!

Reminder to All Jewish Marksmen: Check us out on Facebook!

1. Most of you already follow us on Facebook, but if you're not you're missing a lot of news and posts relevant to the Jews who compete in the shooting sports.  My busy schedule does not allow for frequent blog posts, but Facebook makes sharing news with you easy!
2. Never hesitate to send me leads on Jews in the shooting sports!  It may take me some time but I will follow up!

Garth Ennis' War Stories #4 & #5 feature Jewish Marksmanship

Jewish *Tank* Marksmanship, that is!  Garth Ennis and artist Tomas Aira tell the story of IDF soldiers involved in the Yom Kippur War tank battles in issues #4 & #5 of their War Stories series. Gripping story and art about the brave men who defended Israel from invasion.
You can buy digital versions at Comixology:
https://www.comixology.com/War-Stories-4/digital-comic/178796
https://www.comixology.com/War-Stories-5/digital-comic/190970

You might be able to order print version from the publisher:
http://www.avatarpress.com/2015/01/garth-ennis-war-stories-begin-new-chapter/

Or visit your local comics shop.

I believe an issue #6 will also feature the IDF but it could be some time before its release.

Tablet magazine article favors arming European Jews!

Mazal tov to Tablet for publishing this:
http://tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/189100/arming-europes-jews
From the article:

European Jews with guns can make a difference, though. A well-armed Jewish population might make the jihadists—and their political enablers—think twice. More immediately, they are likely to save their own lives.

I have tablet in my RSS feed reader (I use feedly.com).  While it has never struck as leaning one way or the other politically, I was a bit surprised they ran with this.  I'm glad though!

Shabbat shalom.

Jewish Markswoman Hannah Black Makes US National Team!

Belated Mazal Tov to Hannah Black, who recently competed in qualifications for the National Team:

Shooting at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Black finished ahead of current OTC resident Amy Sowash and Olympian Amanda Furrer. The two-day event saw Black fire a 579, which was good enough to earn her a spot in the finals. She made her mark in on day two as she fired a national record 591 to propel her to the top of the podium. The score was one point off the World Record and topped her personal best by nine points. Her two-day score of 1,181 was two points better than Sowash's mark of 1,179. Her performance has earned her a spot on the squad that will compete at the World Cup in Changwon, Korea.

She was also featured in a recent Virginia news article, with a great quote

“That’s the nice thing about shooting,” she said. “You alone are responsible. You alone are accountable. What you accomplish is a reflection of how hard you’re willing to work and how much time you’re willing to put in. In a lot of respects, you’re always competing against yourself. Your goal for tomorrow is to be a little bit better than you were today.”

Go check out the entire article about Hannah!

Rabbi Menachem Margolin and the European Jewish Congress are both wrong about guns!

In response to the slaughter of Parisian Jews last week at the hands of muslims:

A prominent Jewish leader has written to the governments of all the EU countries, calling on them to pass legislation giving special licence for Jewish people to carry guns.
In a letter sent to interior ministries around Europe and obtained by Newsweek, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, director general of the Rabbinical Centre of Europe (RCE) and the European Jewish Association (EJA) – the largest federation of Jewish organizations and communities in Europe – writes:

“We hereby ask that gun licensing laws are reviewed with immediate effect to allow designated people in the Jewish communities and institutions to own weapons for the essential protection of their communities, as well as receiving the necessary training to protect their members from potential terror attacks.”

Speaking to Newsweek, Rabbi Margolin added that he believes that “as many people within the Jewish community as possible” should carry weapons.

In response, the "European Jewish Congress" rebuked Rabbi Margolin.

They are both wrong.

The correct answer is that all people, not just Jews, should enjoy their natural right to armed self-defense.