California Jews Starting to Figure Out They Need the 2nd Amendment

California bills itself as a bastion of tolerance. In fact, like a lot of Progressive enclaves, it is filled with antisemitism. Feeling triggered: Why these Bay Area Jews met up at a firing range

Branden Johnson was around guns as a kid. His mother and stepfather would shoot. He thought it was weird, until reality intruded on that Progressive vision of "The world is a safe place" delusion. A lot of people in their upper-middle class enclaves feel that way.

His attitude toward guns would change after the Oct. 7 Hamas rampage in southern Israel, which precipitated the ongoing war and a spike in antisemitic incidents worldwide, including in the Bay Area. A recent survey by the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area found that 61% of the region’s Jews feel less safe since the war began — and Johnson is one of them.

Why did Johnson's attitude change after the attacks half a world away? Because the antisemitism that is pervasive was suddenly visible, even to people who had been trying so very hard not to see it.

“I never envisioned myself being interested in learning how to shoot a gun, but since October 7th, I have felt very ill at ease in a way that I haven’t felt before,” he said.

That’s why on a recent Sunday, the 39-year-old San Francisco resident found himself sitting in a classroom at the San Leandro Rifle & Pistol Range with 17 other nervous-looking Jews, most of them in their 20s and 30s.

The article is not long, and includes some short statements by Bay Area liberals who have been figuratively mugged by the reality of antisemitism. There is also a statement from a Rabbi, and bit from the Talmud on self-defense.

The Talmud states, “If someone comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first.” In the past, local synagogues such as Congregation Beth Emek in Pleasanton have offered gun-safety classes for youth.

The statements are all from Bay Area liberals, but liberals who have had their eyes opened. It's a start, but I'm afraid that they will go back to sleep, and believe, once again, that the world is inherently safe, despite all evidence to the contrary.