NJ Rabbi Designs Concealed
Carry Coat for Shabbat
By Doree Lewak. October 9, 2021
This rabbi is really proud of his new "piece" of clothing.
Rabbi Raziel Cohen of Morris County, NJ, has designed a $550 kapota — the long jacket donned by married Hasidic men on Shabbat and holidays — meant to comfortably conceal a gun.
After he got married about two years ago and graduated to wearing a kapota, —I realized right away it was a problem", said Cohen, 24, of the cumbersome garment, which is traditionally fashioned with buttons and a belt known as a gartel.
The issue: He couldn't easily pull out the Glock 19 or Glock 17 he always wears during synagogue.
"When you draw a gun, you have to do it safely, quickly and efficiently — ensuring that it's not a risk to the person drawing the gun or to those around him," said Cohen, an NRA-certified firearms instructor.
So he designed a "Tactical Kapota" with quick-access snaps hidden under a decoy version of the buttons traditionally required for the jacket.
"The buttons are definitely too time-consuming to undo," he said, adding that "efficiency" is essential. "The snaps are safer. With this design, you're able to expose the gun through those layers of material faster."
..... 
"People who think anyone who carries a firearm is a vigilante, that we're looking for confrontation," said Cohen, noting that drawing an actual firearm should be the last resort after exhausting every other layer of protection. "It's not true. People are getting killed in synagogues and houses of worship"
