I was out of town over the weekend and was away from my computer when everything lit off in Israel. It didn’t take long to find out just how bad things have gotten, even if some of the reports aren’t as accurate as we’d prefer our news to be.

And there’s been a lot of talk from the gun rights side about the role of gun control in the atrocities and how Israel is reversing gears in light of what happened.

Now, a retired police chief writing for Law Enforcement Today has thoughts about what’s going on.

The following includes content that is editorial in nature, and reflects the opinion of the writer, a retired Chief of Police and current contributing writer for Law Enforcement Today.

Tel Aviv-The gun control freaks in the United States often bloviate about why anyone would need high-capacity magazines to “hunt deer.” They ask why so-called “weapons of war” should be in private citizens’ hands. Have you seen what is going on in Israel? That should answer their questions.

Unfortunately for the citizens of Israel, it took a surprise attack that has by all estimates, killed at least 1,000 of its citizens to wake up from a slumber that saw it impose draconian gun laws in that country, in many ways more stringent than any such laws in the United States, The Federalist reports.

Motivated by the unprovoked and surprise terrorist attack by savages from Hamas, Israel has suddenly reversed course and made it easier for its citizens to own firearms for self-defense. Just in the nick of time, right?

On Sunday, Israel’s Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, announced an emergency declaration that will “allow as many citizens as possible to arm themselves.” At present, only 1.5 percent of the Israeli population has a license to own a gun.

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After the deadly attack on Israel last weekend, the government acted quickly to get more guns into the hands of Israeli citizens. While gun grabbers in the United States say the military and police should be the only ones able to carry guns, the events in Israel prove that isn’t always possible.

An armed citizenry is a much safer citizenry. Finally, the Israeli government appears to be recognizing that, even if they are late to the game.

It should be noted that less than a month ago, Hamas condemned an Israeli call for more Jewish settlers to carry firearms.

The Israeli government is backing off because, frankly, troops can’t be everywhere and can’t protect everyone. There have been a number of stories of non-military personnel defending themselves or their loved ones effectively against the Hamas attackers.

Don’t get me wrong, the laws in Israel still aren’t great, but they’re still coming to recognize that there’s a problem and an armed citizenry can meet it. For Israel, it’s good for them to recognize what my friend Yehuda Remer, the “Pew Pew Jew,” has on a t-shirt: “People with ARs don’t get in cattle cars.”

Hamas is doing vile things to Israeli civilians. There’s no way to stop them from doing it with words or sentiment.

People need to come to understand that while peace is always desirable, some people won’t be stopped with platitudes and empathy. Some people are too evil, too depraved for that. They’re stopped by a copper-jacketed bullet impacting something vital.

Gun control, both here and abroad, gets in the way of people being able to make that happen.

Someone is often going to die. It’s just better to make sure it’s the correct party doing it.