As a result of the geo-political circumstances of the past several years, there are a considerable number of Haredim who have need of firearms. Not only do they accept the carrying of pistols and guns and training in marksmanship, but do so with enthusiasm.
Written By Gideon Aran
Haredim who carry guns and shoot them often look like kids enjoying a new toy. Experienced shooting (and martial arts) instructors testify that Haredim are their most gung-ho clients. They learn and practice “in earnest” and “get high” on their energies in performance. Compared with the secular or even the national-religious (including West Bank settlers), Haredi shooting is the most aggressive and ecstatic.
We have been told that hey use up twice as much ammunition as members of other groups. There is also a proliferation of militaristic images within the Haredi world itself. Note some typical idioms like: the Yeshiva students “kill themselves in the tent of Torah”; some Hasidic circles regard themselves as “Armies of God’; and the trucks they send to proselytize other Jews are named “Commandment Tanks”.
Taken from “Body, Violence and Fundamentalism: The Case of Jewish Ultra-Orthodoxy” By Prof. Gideon Aran.