I truly do not understand how so many members of my tribe – that is to say, Jewish folk – can say and mean “Never Again,” and simultaneously push for civilian disarmament. I can’t comprehend how one reconciles that phrase with “only the government should have guns.”
The same goes for African Americans, the LGBT community, and other minorities who have been or are persecuted, abused, and even extinguished, yet vote D and detest the idea of firearms for personal protection. Apparently Mormons are the rare religious group that seems to “get” how important private firearms ownership is.
That said, I’ve seen a lot of antisemitism since Newtown. Possibly more than I have experienced at any time prior. Yeah, Feinstein, Bloomberg and some other prominent antis are Jewish. At least by birth; I have no idea if they’re observant or if they’re atheists, like myself, who sometimes still claim their heritage. I’m way off topic, but here’s the takeaway: Jews aren’t anti-gun any more than gun owners are all old, fat, white rednecks. Sometimes it’s true, sometimes it isn’t, but I could sure go for less hate and fewer hoisted pitchforks.
So… what was this supposed to be about? Oh! My TAVOR may be Israeli at heart, and it’s pretty badass, but it’s nowhere near as Jewish as my Tanfoglio MOSSAD. If Jews are anti-gun, this thing wouldn’t exist. BOOM. Put that in your menorah and smoke it.
The history on this pistol is pretty thin. I was never really able to lock anything down, unfortunately, and reports are varied. Apparently, before Israel was producing its own pistols (before IMI), it contracted with Tanfoglio, manufacturers of high quality CZ clones. In fact, IMI’s first Jericho pistol was built mostly using parts made by Tanfoglio.
That’s the solid history. Now, the Israeli Mossad is akin to the CIA…intelligence gathering, including legit spies, and trying to deny that they do “wet work.” Many people claim that this series of Tanfoglio-manufactured “MOSSAD” pistols was issued to Mossad agents for their personal, daily protection use.
Let’s be clear: these pistols were NOT used on “missions” of any sort (though some owners like to claim otherwise). This seems pretty obvious, as that would be about as likely as CIA agents carrying guns with “CIA” stamped on them. However, some people say these guns really had nothing to do with the Mossad at all, and that they were issued to police and available for purchase by civilians.
So that’s the shaky history of what/who these specific guns were actually for. Maybe it was both Mossad and police, and then later sold to the public as surplus. Certainly some were imported into the U.S. as surplus, and one eventually found its way to me.
Some of these pistols have this “Israel Shooting Association” crest on them. I think this almost certainly proves civilian ownership at some point. Maybe the Israel Shooting Association purchased them surplus from the Mossad/police? Again, I just don’t know.
If you’re familiar with the CZ 75, you’ll be familiar with this pistol. It has a firing pin block like a CZ 75B, and 75B magazines fit and function flawlessly in it. There is a minor difference in the mag release setup, which actually involves the trigger bar a bit, but the rest of the parts look basically identical.
I can completely detail strip this gun and detail strip my CZ 75 SP-01, and not notice a real difference in any of the other parts, pieces, or process. Yet almost none of the parts can be swapped between the two guns. Most of them are different in such small ways that it isn’t noticeable unless you’re holding one sear cage right next to the other, for example, or you try to swap them.
For the record, this applies to most of the current CZ clones as well: Tanfoglio/EAA, Sphinx, Jericho/Baby Eagle, Sarsilmaz, Canik, BUL, etc. …and past clones, including guns from Colt, Springfield, and Jeff Cooper’s own Bren Ten.
As a huge CZ fan, this pistol has a well-deserved place in my safe. I just wish I knew a little more about where it really came from… if for no other reason than this.
Maybe the next time you run across a “The assault weapons ban is a Jewish conspiracy!” comment online somewhere, you can point them here. Maybe if you’re the type to write those things (and I’m guessing, if that’s the case, that you got linked here by a regular TTAG’er, because this community tends to be pretty darn accepting), you will heed a spot of advice: relying too heavily on stereotypes could be, you know, dangerous.
[This post was originally published here in 2013.]