George Soros and your guns.

by Rabbi Dovid Bendory, Rabbinic Director,
Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership.
Copyright 2011 JPFO

George Soros is a known supporter of "gun control", both here in America and around the globe.

He is also a billionaire … and he is also Jewish. Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership therefore has a more than usual interest in this man and his immense and potentially dangerous power.

An UNSUBSTANTIATED rumor is going around the internet of late. The Talmud says that for any lie to be believable, it must be interwoven with truth, and this rumor is no different.

The rumor first claims that "The Freedom Group" owns a significant slice of American gun manufacturing and ammunition manufacturing.

This is TRUE, and it’s public information. No one argues this.

The next declaration contained in the internet rumor is that "The Freedom Group" is owned by an even bigger entity called "Cerberus Capital Management".

This is also TRUE. Cerberus Capital is an investment fund with stakes in many, many companies. No one knows better than us gun owners that investing in American gun and ammunition manufacturing is a sound business decision.

However, at this point, this internet rumor takes a leap: The rumor claims that anti-gun billionaire George Soros actually controls "Cerberus Capitol Management", and therefore exercises a stunning amount of control over the American gun industry.

IMPORTANT: We have done some research and found no evidence that this is true.

The NRA has come out even more strongly against this rumor; they put out this "end-of-subject" declaration: http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Read.aspx?ID=7136

Now Biblical Law is very clear about this sort of unsubstantiated rumor: "Do not be a gossipmonger among your people," we are told in Leviticus 19:16. (Interestingly, the other half of this verse commands us to defend the innocent: "Do not stand idly while your brother’s blood is shed. I am the L-rd.") In Jewish Law, this verse is understood to mean that you cannot believe an unsubstantiated rumor.

But the NRA has gone further than articulate the healthy skepticism that we should all express when we receive anonymous internet e-mails like this one. The NRA has declared:

"NRA has had contact with officials from Cerberus and Freedom Group for some time. The owners and investors involved are strong supporters of the Second Amendment and are avid hunters and shooters.

In reality, at no time has George Soros ever been a part of the ownership group of Freedom Group or Cerberus, and as a privately traded corporation, there is no possibility that he will be in the future."

We at Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership would like to ask the NRA to share with JPFO (and with all American gun owners) how they researched the rumor and were then able to so emphatically "debunk" it.

This issue is far too important to remain a "trade secret" within the NRA.

Independent investigators for other pro-gun groups (and the media) can then follow the identical path of investigation the NRA took, and thusly put this inflammatory rumor in the "categorically debunked" file.

George Soros might be a dangerously powerful anti-gunner, but unlike the enemies of freedom, we patriots must nonetheless be factual in our analysis and statements. The NRA apparently has facts here that would be helpful for all firearms owners to know; I would like to see those facts subject to public scrutiny.

With blessings of Shalom,


Rabbi Dovid Bendory
Rabbinic Director
Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership
(http://jpfo.org)

Rabbi Bendory is an NRA Certified Firearms Instructor.

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