I was out of town and away from my computer when Hamas launched its deadly attack on Israel. It wasn’t until I got home that I saw the horrific atrocities that took place.

But a lot of Jewish Americans saw them more or less as they happened.

They likely also noticed how many people in this country were celebrating the deadly attacks against civilians throughout the region.

As a result, they’ve decided not to be a victim here in the US.

“There’s another order coming from Hamas to kill the Jews. I happen to be Jewish, and I don’t want to be killed.”

That’s the succinct explanation Joshua, a doctor in Los Angeles, gave for why he decided to buy his first gun this week. He’s far from alone. New owners and trainers alike described scenes of gun stores and safety classes full of Jewish Americans hoping to protect themselves from the kind of slaughter that played out on October 7th when Hamas terrorists streamed over the border into Israel and ruthlessly slaughtered more than 1,400 men, women, and children.

“I was at a local gun store a couple of days ago, where my wife was doing her firearms training test, and it was full,” Joshua, who–like several others who spoke to The Reload for this story–did not want his real name revealed in large part due to safety concerns, said. “There was a line outside to get in for people to do their tests, or buy firearms, or practice on the range. And I would say it was 90% Jewish people and Israelis.”

He said the motivation of those in line was clear.

“We all know what happened in Israel. It was a horrific attack on civilians by Hamas with the tally now up close to 1,500 dead,” Joshua said. “It’s the worst attack against Jews since the Holocaust. I never thought I’d say this, but it’s almost worse than the Nazis. They buried the bodies or cremated the bodies. The Nazis hid their atrocities. Hamas is live streaming their atrocities where they kill babies, shoot the elderly waiting at bus stops, rape women, and mow down young people at a music festival for peace.”

It’s not overly surprising that a lot of Jewish Americans are looking at what happened with a deep sense of dread.

Before 9/11, it was easy to ignore Islamic terrorism as something that happens in other places. Since then, we’ve had a number of attacks on American soil. In light of what Hamas has done and calls to eradicate the Jewish people, it’s not surprising that they’re getting guns and preparing to defend themselves.

Some will lament this fact, and in truth, I lament that they’re in a position to feel this way. I’ve got a number of Jewish friends and none of them deserve anything like this.

But I will say arming themselves is completely rational under the circumstances.

I mean, there’s an organization or two dozen that actively want to see Israel eradicated and, by extension, the extermination of Jews throughout the world. That’s horrific, but it’s preventable.

We saw people defend themselves in Israel. We saw good people stacking Hamas bodies like cordwood, all to protect the innocent.

If that were to happen in the US to any degree, Jewish Americans could defend themselves and do just as much, if not more, than their Israeli brethren.

And it would likely give at least some pause to those who celebrated the actions of Hamas who might think to act on their own anti-Semitism.