Two weeks ago, Zvika Arran reluctantly drew a gun at an Israeli state-run shooting class for those seeking firearms licenses, part of a massive spike in applications since the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7.

Mr. Arran said he was repelled by the idea of owning the pistol that now sits in a safe in his house. But his sense of security, like that of so many Israelis, was shattered when Hamas fighters overran communities near the Gaza Strip, killing an estimated 1,200 people and abducting more than 240 hostages, according to Israeli officials.

“God forbid, if something similar happens here, I want to know that I have a firearm,” said Mr. Arran, 48, who lives in Eliav, a small town that borders the Israeli-occupied West Bank. “The problem is the side effects” of proliferating guns, he added, which he called “a disaster for years to come.”

“It shows that the state has simply given up on protecting us,” he added. “And it will be a disaster in encouraging violence on the roads, domestic violence and gunfire accidents.”

In Israel, a nation of 9 million people, roughly 150,000 held private gun licenses in 2021, a figure that had dropped by about 20 percent over the previous decade, according to the National Security Ministry.

But in the aftermath of Oct. 7, Israelis have submitted at least 256,000 applications for gun licenses, including many who had never before considered owning a weapon. Israel’s current far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has long pushed for an expansion of gun ownership, and in mid-October, lawmakers signed off on eased gun ownership regulations promulgated by his office.