Here, Shabbat goes out with an AK47

But he told the Richmond Times-Dispatch: "I'm not advocating for everyone to walk around with an AK-47, but I walk around with a handgun on the Sabbath, and I think it would be better if most Jews did."

Rabbi Kolakowski told the JC via Facebook that "this is really a very minor local matter" that is "mostly motivated by prejudice against our small Orthodox congregation by the larger Orthodox congregation - which isn't that large to begin with - in this town."

He said Mr Meza had mentioned to visitors from New York that he had a gun collection, and they asked to see it. "Rabbi Meza only felt so casual because it was a private home," said Rabbi Kolakowski.

But the more mainstream Jewish community remains unpersuaded. Rabbi Ben Romer of Or Ami, a Reform synagogue, said he had been a military chaplain for 22 years but never allowed a weapon into a place of worship. "It violates ethics, morals, Jewish tradition," he said.