Rifles are displayed for sale at Firearms Unknown, a gun store in Oceanside, California, US, April 12, 2021. Photo: REUTERS/Bing Guan

Aviram Dehari, mayor of the southern Israeli city of Kiryat Gat, has sent a letter urging Israel’s government to implement a program to train high school students how to use firearms in the wake of the Hamas terror group’s Oct. 7 massacre.

“Kiryat Gat wishes to be the pioneer in implementing this very basic training in the days when the people of Israel are fighting for the homeland,” Dehari wrote to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Education Minister Yoav Kisch.

“As part of the most basic lessons of the Oct. 7 massacre, I would ask you to immediately build a practical training program for all high school students in Israel for the use of short and long weapons as part of the civilian assessments for domestic security,” he added.

Since Hamas terrorists stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7 — killing more than 1,200 people, taking 240 others as hostages, and launching the ongoing war in Gaza — sales and license applications for guns in Israel have spiked to record highs.

According to government numbers, more than 265,000 Israelis have applied for a firearms license between Oct. 7 and early December — six times the total number of applications from 2022, despite only covering a two-month period. Earlier this year, there were around only 36,000 applications.

Roughly 85,000 licenses and conditional permits have been issued in the recent period since the war began. Last year, 12,896 gun-carrying licenses were issued, and 10,000 were issued in 2021.

These numbers do not include the weapons carried by security personnel such as soldiers and police.

Gun licensing is a strict process in Israel — and one that is off limits to minors today. The National Security Ministry estimated last year that about 150,000 Israelis owned personal firearms licenses.

None of the recipients of Dehari’s letter have responded yet.

It seems unlikely such a proposal would come to fruition. All schools in Israel currently have high levels of security, including fortified walls and armed security at the entrance. This is in addition to any number of teachers who may be potentially carrying firearms themselves.