They’re packing heat – and some nosh.
A new Jewish-owned and -operated shooting club is catering to communal safety concerns ahead of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year that begins Monday at sundown.
Plenty of ammo is in the offing — along with bagels and schmear to kick off every session.
“Lox & Loaded was born out of necessity, sadly,” said Ian Friedman, a rep for the national member-based club, which has three thriving New York chapters.
Friedman told The Post that Lox & Loaded’s national tactical firearms training has quickly become an appetizing option for those seeking safety — specifically around Jewish holidays and generally since Hamas’ devastating Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel that launched the ongoing war in Gaza and a relentless stream of antisemitism across the country and globe.
It’s not about “fearmongering” but about “learning how to avoid danger when possible, escape when necessary, and defend effectively when there is no other choice,” according to the group’s website.
Friedman said, “Some people come to us after getting antisemitic threats” and because they feel bombarded with grim news of surging antisemitism.
Noting that many members are firearm novices, he said, “At the very core, people were scared for the wellbeing of their children.
“It’s really traumatic, and it helps to have a place where people can go and talk about it,” said Friedman, who himself bought a gun range in Illinois with the intention of helping people train in firearm safety in the aftermath of Oct. 7.
It’s not just middle-aged men loading guns – and carbs — with the group, which stresses, “Never Again Means Being Ready.”
Bubbes and zaydes well into their 80s are eschewing Mahjong and instead joining the club, which promotes “self-reliance, safety, and strengthening the Jewish community” through workshops, range days with certified instructors, experts in personal defense and speakers on Jewish history.
“They talk about what it was like to flee Europe and Russia and places where antisemitism” flourished, Friedman said of the club’s older members.
“People are terrified that it’s going to happen again,” he said.
Noting that the Nazis notoriously confiscated Jews’ guns in the 1930s, Friedman said Lox & Loaded’s members “see this as a way to prevent that from happening again.”
Since its early summer 2025 launch, the shooting club with the cheeky name ripped right out of the Borscht Belt has taken off like a bullet.
It currently has more than 1,000 members in 15 chapters across 10 states, with nine more chapters slated to launch in the next few weeks. In New York, there is a chapter in Nassau County on Long Island, another in Suffolk County, LI, and one in Westchester County.
The interest reflects “a sad reality that this is what’s necessary today,” Friedman said.
During the first quarter of 2024, 54 percent of all New York City hate crimes were against Jews, according to the NYPD, a number that rose to 62 percent during the same period in 2025.
There were also a record-breaking 9,354 incidents of antisemitic assault, harassment and vandalism across the country in 2024, according to the Anti-Defamation League’s latest annual audit.
The total represents a 5% increase from 2023, a 344% increase over the past five years, an 893% increase in the past 10 years and the highest level recorded since ADL started tracking this data in 1979.
Lox & Loaded said it aims to promote “confidence, fostering firearm safety, and standing united because community defense begins with community strength.”
In the wake of reported bomb threats across multiple synagogues in New York coinciding with the high holidays and the Oct. 7 anniversary coming up, the three New York Lox & Loaded chapters are thriving, the group said.
The Jewish anti-gun crowd has “come around to the idea that maybe the Second Amendment is a good thing” when it becomes less abstract and more personal, according to Jay, a Westchester member who only wanted his first name used.
He said that for Westchester members, recent threats to local synagogues made joining the local chapter a no-brainer.
“People thought they were safe, untouchable,” said the 54-year-old Queens native, who first learned his way around a gun range from his Boy Scouts days. “But people hate you right next door. It rocked [Jews] to their core.”
The club’s annual membership dues are $118, a figure that’s a nod to the number 18, a Jewish symbol for “life” – and meetups, mostly monthly for now, live up to the club’s name.
The bagels and perfectly-sliced lox that kick off the range days has become a bulletproof approach to keeping members happy.
One thing everyone can agree on: Jewish deli comes first, lest the gun’s lead residue on the hands interfere with the noshing.
While “many” members say they live in fear, the ability to cultivate safety, skills, and confidence becomes “empowering,” Friedman said.
“They don’t need to live in fear.”
Additional reporting by Ronny Reyes
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