An Open Letter to NYC Mayor Bloomberg

Subject: Gun control
Date: Thursday, 10 Mar 2011 10:10:36 -0500


An Open Letter to NYC
Mayor Michael Bloomberg
from Rabbi Dovid Bendory, Rabbinic Director,
Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership.
Copyright 2011 JPFO



Dear Mayor Bloomberg:

I am an Orthodox rabbi who lives in New Jersey but works in New York City.
Approximately half of my waking life is lived under your laws and
jurisdiction. Like everyone who lives or works in New York City, I have the right,
even the obligation, to confront some of your policies regarding so-called
“gun control”.



Why do I place the phrase “gun control” in quotes? Because this
innocuous-sounding phrase, this expression that sounds like common sense,
is in reality a dangerous bit of semantic trickery.



“Gun control” actually (and historically) means letting government,
whether benign or ruthlessly evil, disarm certain sectors of society and allow
others to remain armed. It means letting the government know where every gun
owner lives and the number and types of firearms that he or she owns. It
means putting the authority to decide who has the right to defend him or herself
with a firearm into the hands of a government bureaucrat.



The honest definition of “gun control” is actually “victim disarmament”
because the person with the gun will always control the person without the
gun. Without the personal firearm as an “equalizer”, the stronger will
always control the weaker.

Mr. Bloomberg, our Jewish tradition tells us that righteous self-defense
is not only permissible but an obligation: "If a murderer comes for you,
strike him down first." (Talmud Sanhedrin 72a)



In your own New York City, hand guns are illegal for all practical
purposes, yet the murderers, drug dealers, gangs, and other criminal predators in
your City manage to acquire them nonetheless. How do you expect civilians to
defend themselves against those who would harm them if we cannot use the
most practical tool at our disposal -- the handgun? You tell us to “Dial 911”?
And then wait ten minutes or more for police rescue? It deeply troubles me
that I -- along with millions of others who live and work in your city --
are on your “disarmed” list. Mr. Mayor, this is not only immoral, it goes
against the fundamental precepts of Judaism that you and I both honor.



The Torah teaches: “Do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor.”
(Leviticus 19:16), which Rashi explains means that one who is able to help
another escape harm and fails to do so is held culpable in the Heavenly Court
for the harm he failed to prevent. You, Mr. Mayor, by disarming your citizens,
place them in harm’s way every day.



Jews are commanded by G-d to value all human life. How can you, a
religiously committed Jew, say you truly value human life? Every second you stand as
Mayor you advocate laws that strip millions and millions of people in your
city completely defenseless in the face of the criminal predators who roam
your streets.





Photo: Yeshiva World News. Used with permission.


Mr. Mayor, your citizen disarmament is an act of hypocrisy. Unlike nearly
all the rest of us, everywhere you go you are surrounded by official armed
guards, police escorts, and your highly trained personal private bodyguards.
(See adjacent photo). Mr. Mayor, is your life worth more than the lives of
your fellow citizens? Or are we mere “subjects” in your eyes?



As Jews, Mr. Mayor, we believe that all life is precious, not just the
lives of our leaders. Have you ever, in your time as Mayor, walked the streets
of New York City alone and unarmed?



I am nearly certain you would have to answer “no” to this question.
Therefore I must further ask you: How, in clear conscience, do you require the
rest of us to do so? Would you willingly live under this prejudicial burden?
Can you recognize and admit the arrogant hypocrisy this attitude displays?



Additionally, you are no doubt aware that the Jewish people have been at
the wrong end of the gun barrel for far too long. America is one of the few
countries in the world where Jews are entitled to embrace firearms as the
most practical means of our own self-defense. And you would strip us of the
right to defend ourselves? With all due respect, Mr. Mayor, this is shameful.



Mayor Bloomberg, have you studied Jewish history? Are you aware that the
Nazis disarmed Jews prior to Kristallnacht and that those same Nazi gun
laws are the foundation of the U.S. Gun Control Act of 1968? Are you aware that
Senator Thomas Dodd asked the Library of Congress to translate the Nazi Gun
Control Lawsinto English for him, and that he incorporated language from
these laws into the Gun Control Act of 1968 that he authored? How can it be that
you, a Jew, are enforcing Nazi-inspired laws? Tyrants like Lenin, Hitler,
Stalin, and Mao “pioneered” the bloody trail of “gun control” in the 20th
Century. Why do you so thoughtlessly, in effect, mimic the insidious actions
of these monsters?



This apparent elitism on your part makes your recent publicity stunt in
Arizona even more cynical. You sent NYPD agents all the way across the country
to purchase guns -- but you can't deploy enough police to protect your own
City residents?



And if you expose your city’s residents via such a manpower diversion, how
do you justify denying these residents the right to protect themselves with
a firearm?



Mr. Mayor, do you need a rabbi to tell you that your actions are wrong and
immoral?



This nation’s Bill of Rights is a sacrosanct public trust. You are a
public servant. You swore an oath to uphold the Constitution. As you blatantly
disregard the Second Amendment, the actual “Guardian” of all the rest of the
Bill of Rights, I must ask you: Did you knowingly lie when you took
your oath of office?



Sincerely,


Rabbi Dovid Bendory