Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat caused a minor storm yesterday when he was spotted in the Beit Hanina neighborhood, next to Shuafat, armed with what appeared to Israel’s Channel 1 as a mini-assault rifle, which the reporter misidentified as a variation of the Galil. The Arabs have been violently rioting in Beit Hanina and Shuafat.
Channel 1 was very concerned that the mayor was walking around Jerusalem without a proper license for the weapon. It’s still difficult for the average Jerusalem resident (and Israeli) to get a gun license.
In fact, Barkat, who earlier this year caught a terrorist mid-attack in Jerusalem has a proper license for a .40 caliber Glock pistol (personally, I recommend the CZ P-07, but to each their own). He was using it with a RONI carbine conversion kit, which allows quick conversion of a handgun into a carbine rifle (it’s very cool). The conversion kit increases shooter accuracy.
The mayor’s office released a photo of the gun in the RONI, and the mayor’s gun license.
The mayor should know, his gun license expires at the end of the month. It’s renewal time.
The Channel 1 report: