Lowenstein, 33, looks like any other Orthodox Jewish woman on Shabbat. And that’s just how she wants it.

Her synagogue in Hancock Park is a little run-down, with linoleum floors and drop-tile ceilings, but it’s full of life, chanting, and swaying. The space is divided between men and women. Lowenstein prays with the female congregants while scanning for threats, her pistol now removed from her case and tucked into the holster under her sweater.

She’s backed up by her longtime friend Srula Chaiton, 32, who oversees a girls’ service down the hall. As Chaiton recites a silent prayer, I notice the outline of her own Glock under her jacket.

“I carry every week in shul, on a holster on my belt,” said Chaiton.

Lowenstein and Chaiton are licensed, armed security—Orthodox Jewish sharpshooters.

[This is a predictable outcome of a spike in anti-Semitic crime. It has changed minds in Jewish communities about carrying for self-defense and for community defense. And they are going about it the right way — through training, education, and practice. — Ed]