NEWS ANALYSIS

TEL AVIV -- The Connecticut school massacre has raised the issue of gun control not only in the United States but also in Israel, where self-defense is not so much a point of law as a way of life.

In Israel, schools are protected by armed guards, and everyone is on some sort of an alert for suspicious objects or people.

Cars and personal belongings are checked at cafés, movies theaters, public buildings and malls.

Although security guards here are not your typical ex-Navy SEALS, they do act as a first barrier – a line of defense that could have saved the lives of the innocent children at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Young men carrying M16 rifles – soldiers either on their way back or coming home from their military base – are a common sight on main streets in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv.

However, it is very difficult for any Israeli civilian to purchase and own a gun, and all must have a license to do so. The ownership of  assault rifles by a private person is forbidden, and pistols are limited to one per person.

In a country with a population of almost 8 million there are only about 300,000 weapons, of which just over half - 170,000 - belong to private individuals. The rest belong to security institutions. 

The license process, which must be completed every year, includes mental and physical health checkups as well as a firing-range exercise. Most importantly, it is a crime with harsh penalty to carry a weapon in Israel without a license.

Security guards must meet regulations before they are granted the license to carry a gun; they must be at least 27 years old, unless they served in the army, in which case they can apply at the age of 21. They also need to be a resident of Israel for at least three years and sign a waiver that gives the health ministry and the police the right to check their health and criminal records.

Yariv, owner of the Lahav weapon shop in Tel Aviv, told Israeli Army radio: "A very little amount of people buy private guns, since the Israeli citizen knows in advance that his chances to buy and own a gun amounts to zero.

“Most of the buyers are men who are demanded by their work to carry a weapon.”

There are only a few tens of thousands of legal guns in Israel, most owned by settlers living in the West Bank who are granted dispensation because of the need for self-defense while traveling to and from the West Bank.

Such measures mean that, despite a backdrop of violence committed with illegal weapons, there are hardly any random killings at all. It is impossible for a 20-year-old to buy and own a gun openly.

Paul Goldman is an NBC journalist based in Tel Aviv.

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Pope Benedict XVI spoke of his deep sadness at the Connecticut school shooting during his Sunday address to the crowd in St. Peter's Square, Vatican City.

Twenty-eight people, including the gunman, died in Friday's shooting spree in the town of Newtown, Connecticut, including 20 children and six adults killed at the school and one adult killed at a nearby site, police said.

"I was deeply saddened by Friday's senseless violence in Newtown, Connecticut,” he told the crowd.

“I assure the families of the victims, especially those who lost a child, of my closeness in prayer. May the God of consolation touch their hearts and ease their pain.

“During this Advent Season, let us dedicate ourselves more fervently to prayer and to acts of peace. Upon those affected by this tragedy, and upon each of you, I invoke God's abundant blessings!"  

Slideshow: Connecticut school massacre

Emmanuel Dunand / AFP - Getty Images

The second deadliest school shooting in U.S. history sent crying children spilling into the school parking lot as frightened parents waited for word on their loved ones.

Launch slideshow

On Saturday, the pontiff conveyed his "heartfelt grief" through Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

"In the aftermath of this senseless tragedy, he asks God our Father to console all those who mourn and to sustain the entire community with the spiritual strength which triumphs over violence by the power of forgiveness, hope and reconciling love," Bertone said. 

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Slideshow: Connecticut school massacre

Michelle Mcloughlin / Reuters

The second deadliest school shooting in U.S. history sent crying children spilling into the school parking lot as frightened parents waited for word on their loved ones.

Launch slideshow

Shock and sympathy were the initial reactions from around the world to a shooting rampage that left 26 people dead, including 20 children, at a Connecticut elementary school. Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard described the attack as a "senseless and incomprehensible act of evil."

"Like President Obama and his fellow Americans, our hearts too are broken," Gillard said in a statement.

The gunman killed his mother at home before opening fire Friday inside the school in Newtown, Connecticut, killing 26 people, including 20 children, police said. The body of the killer, identified as 20-year-old Adam Lanza, was also found at the school.

"As parents and grandparents, as brothers and sisters, as friends of the American people, we mourn the loss of children, aged only 5 to 10 years, whose futures lay before them," Gillard said. "We mourn the loss of brave teachers who sought only to lead their students into that future but were brutally murdered in a place of refuge and learning."

Australia confronted a similar tragedy in 1996, when a man went on a shooting spree in the southern state of Tasmania, killing 35 people. The mass killing sparked outrage across the country and led the government to impose strict new gun laws, including a ban on semi-automatic rifles.

Elementary school massacre: 20 children among 28 killed in Connecticut slaughter

Gillard's sentiments echoed those of British Prime Minister David Cameron, who said he "was shocked and deeply saddened" to learn of the "horrific shooting."

"My thoughts are with the injured and those who have lost loved ones," he said. "It is heartbreaking to think of those who have had their children robbed from them at such a young age, when they had so much life ahead of them."

In Japan, where guns are severely restricted and there are extremely few gun-related crimes, public broadcaster NHK led the noon news Saturday with the shooting, putting it ahead of an update on the final day of campaigning before Sunday's nationwide parliamentary elections.

NHK, which had a reporter giving a live broadcast from the scene, said that five of the children at the school were Japanese, and that all five were safe. Its report could not immediately be independently confirmed.

Authorities ID gunman who killed 27 in elementary school massacre

Several Japanese broadcasters ran footage from Newtown, showing scenes of people singing outside churches Friday evening, as well as part of President Barack Obama's tearful press conference.

In China, top of the news
The attack in Connecticut quickly consumed public discussion in China, rocketing to the top of topic lists on social media and becoming the top story on state television's main noon newscast. China has seen several rampage attacks at schools in recent years, though the attackers there usually use knives. The most recent attack happened Friday, when a knife-wielding man injured 22 children and one adult outside a primary school in central China.

Gunman's mother owned weapons used in Connecticut school massacre

Much of the discussion after the Connecticut rampage centered on the easy access to guns in America, unlike in China, where even knives are sometimes banned from sale. But with more than 100,000 Chinese studying in U.S. schools, a sense of shared grief came through.

"Parents with children studying in the U.S. must be tense. School shootings happen often in the U.S. Really, can't politicians put away politics and prohibit gun sales?" Zhang Xin, a wealthy property developer, wrote on her feed on the Twitter-like Sina Weibo service, where she has 4.9 million followers. "There will always be mental patients among us. They should not be given guns."

In the Philippines, a spokeswoman for President Benigno Aquino III said, "What makes it more painful is that most of the victims were small children."

"Our deep condolences go out to the families, teachers and their loved ones. Our hearts and minds are with them and pray with them as they go through a very difficult time, especially with Christmas approaching," deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte told DZBB radio.

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