Belgian Jews repudiate call for gun ownership

Belgian Jewish leaders denounced calls for their governments to issue gun permits to members of their communities this weekend, saying that such efforts could lead to harrowing consequences. Last week, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, the Brussels-based head of the European Jewish Association (EJA) and the affiliated Rabbinical Center of Europe, sent a letter to senior officials in a number of EU states requesting that gun laws be loosened to allow “designated people” among Europe’s Jews “to own weapons for the essential protection of their communities.”Both community heads and Jewish business owners should be trained in firearms and be permitted to carry them, he said in a statement.“There is absolutely no intention to create a pro-active force.Rather, we expect local authorities to identify, train and oversee all designated armed personnel,” Margolin said.

 

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