Complaints about gun permit delays have skyrocketed, with a 500% surge in grievances flooding Israel’s National Security Ministry in 2024, the State Comptroller revealed Tuesday.
The Ministry received 1,436 complaints in 2024, making it the second most complained-about government body after local authorities, said the report, written by State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman. The surge stems from an unprecedented wave of over 400,000 firearm permit applications submitted in the wake of October 7 — more than twice the number of all Israelis who had gun licenses before the Hamas attack. According to Englman’s report, the process of receiving a gun license could take months — and in some cases up to a year.
The State Comptroller, also known as the State Ombudsman, periodically releases reports auditing Israeli preparedness and the effectiveness of government policies.
Of the 400,000 requests, over 217,000 received conditional approval, with 165,000 finalized as permanent licenses. About 177,000 applications were rejected.