A New York Post report claims more Jews in the U.S. are buying firearms to protect themselves against a potential attack. Photo: Augustas Didžgalvis.

More Jews in the U.S. have decided on keeping themselves armed in light of the recent terror attacks taking place across Israel, according to a New York Post opinion piece published Tuesday.

The piece, by contributor Bethany Mandel, says that Jews are quietly applying for gun and concealed-carry permits across New York and New Jersey. Mandel writes that she visited a New Jersey gun range on Sunday and noticed a Jewish man in a yarmulke [skullcap] teaching an advanced course on self-defense. She claims friends who frequently visit the gun range say they have been seeing more men wearing yarmulkes and fewer “rebels” at the facility.

The op-ed appeared after two Israeli rabbinical students were assaulted with Molotov cocktails in New York City on Friday. The incident was the second suspected hate attack against Jews in New York that weekend.

The issue of gun possession has recently been a popular topic among politicians in both the U.S. and Israel. Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson was criticized for saying in a recent interview that the Holocaust might have unfolded differently if Jews in Europe had been armed. He claimed that the number of Jews mass murdered by the Nazis “would have been greatly diminished” if the Jews of Germany had been in possession of weapons.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat told residents of the city last week to carry guns on a daily basis to protect themselves against attackers. He said, “Given the current escalation of violence…, those with a licensed firearm who know what to do with it must go out with their weapon. In a way, it’s like military reserve duty.”