"...do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic..."

"For the good of the Air Force, for the good of the armed services and for the good of our country, I urge you to reject convention and careerism..."
- Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Maxwell AFB, April 21, 2008

"You will need to challenge conventional wisdom and call things like you see them to subordinates and superiors alike."
- Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, United States Air Force Academy, March 4, 2011

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Insane Base Policy Endangers Service Members


Another tragedy unfolded at Fort Hood today, as one or more individuals with weapon(s) shot multiple individuals.  I don't know the details, the motivation, and I will not speculate.  I will, however, note that Fort Hood, like every military installation I have encountered, does not allow military members to carry weapons onto base in their vehicles.

This story demonstrates, as such shootings always do in "gun free" zones, the simple truth that criminals are not deterred with weapon bans.  When an active shooter situation occurs, such dangerous and backward policies only succeed in leaving innocent Americans disarmed and vulnerable.  Such ridiculous base policies nearly guarantee that the body count of dead and injured innocent Americans during such tragedies, will be higher than would be the case if service members could protect themselves when tragedy strikes.

It is incredibly unfortunate that Americans are not allowed to exercise their second amendment right to keep and bear arms, a right that shall not be infringed.  But it is a right infringed routinely in America.  Even for military members, engaged in the business of lethality and defending their nation.

Service members in Texas, like everybody else, can carry weapons in their vehicles anywhere in that state without so much as a permit or license.  But they must remember to take their constitutionally protected tools of defense out of their vehicles when they go to work to Fort Hood, or Randolph, or Lackland, or Dyess, or Laughlin, or Sheppard, or NAS Corpus Christi, and other locations across the nation.  They must then hope that they and their family members are not murdered by those who do not disarm when they go through the gate.

It is a sad irony that a military installation is so dangerous to innocent Americans.  Shelter in place is not a solution, anymore than a herd of antelope freezing deters a lion.  It is insane.

Policies that disarm service members and their families on military installations are stupid, unconstitutional, and life threatening.  They need to be ended immediately by every installation commander who cares about the lives of his or her service members and their families.

It's a real shame the first Fort Hood massacre didn't make that clear.

4 comments:

  1. Just because something is stupid, doesn't mean it is unconstitutional. While off base, military members are able to carry a weapon. As you know, military members have many rights taken away or limited... We do not have the freedom of speech afforded to the average citizen and we have to follow the UCMJ and AFIs that limit countless other freedoms. Why is this stupid policy unconstitutional?

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  2. Something can be stupid, and not unconstitutional, you are correct. Like OIF. This policy is unconstitutional because the second amendment says the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, and that obviously includes public property. The "military necessity" argument that courts have used to limit constitutional rights, does not apply either. People being allowed to carry tools to defend themselves and their families will not affect the mission (except to very likely deter and limit tragedies like this one).

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  3. I do not believe the second amendment obviously includes all public property. Not all government owned (public property) is opened to the general public. When government owned property has limitations to public use, the government has many established precedents to limit the rights of the citizens on government property. If the the second amendment was absolute on any public property, there would be many security challenges. If it is unconstitutional to ban carrying a weapon on a military installation, it is certainly unconstitutional to ban carrying a weapon at Reagan National Airport. You can't say one is unconstitutional and the other is constitutional.

    I agree that military members should be able to carry a weapon on base...I just do not think it is unconstitutional to not allow them. Security forces can stop you and give you a "ticket" for wearing earphones while jogging. If the military can tell me that I can't run on the sidewalk while wearing headphones, I am not too surprised they are within their legal limits to stop me from walking around base with a gun. I don't agree with it, but to say it is unconstitutional is a step too far.

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  4. As always, the military mirrors society as a whole. It is hard to believe that a man would go on a killing spree because his leave wasn't approved. Something is amiss, and I fear there is much more to the story than what we are hearing about. What SHOULD trouble people, is the idea that military members cannot be trusted with a gun....WHAT ?? Reminds me of one of my Iraq deployments when I asked for grenades and was told they were too dangerous, when we are getting ready to go outside the wire yet again.......Reminds me of the stories about how Hitler wouldn't allow his military men to have a pistol on them in his prescence.

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