Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has signed a landmark memorandum that finally allows American uniformed service members to receive permission to carry their privately owned firearms for personal protection while off duty on U.S. military installations. This long-overdue policy corrects years of treating our nation’s warfighters as second-class citizens when it comes to their Second Amendment rights. And it allows them to carry personal firearms instead of leaving them defenseless in military gun-free zones.
For far too long, highly trained service members have been left vulnerable despite their skills and daily commitment to defending the country. As Hegseth said in his announcement, “Before today, it was virtually impossible for War Department personnel to get permission to carry and store their own personal weapons aligned with state laws,” Hegseth stated in a video announcement. “Well, that’s no longer the case.”
Our military installations have been turned into gun-free zones—leaving our service members vulnerable and exposed.
That ends today. pic.twitter.com/IQ204YepZ0
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) April 2, 2026
The memo directs installation commanders to review requests with a clear presumption of approval, recognizing that our service members—entrusted with the nation’s safety—are no less entitled to self-defense than any other American. Hegseth emphasized that the Second Amendment applies to everyone in uniform, who meet the highest training standards.
Hegseth cited tragic recent incidents where armed personnel might have stopped or limited the damage during attacks: the 2019 terrorist attack at Naval Air Station Pensacola that killed three and injured eight; the August 2025 shooting at Fort Stewart, Georgia, wounding five soldiers; and the March 2026 domestic-related shooting at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, that left one dead and one injured. “Recent events have made clear that some threats are closer to home,” Hegseth noted. “In these instances, minutes are a lifetime, and our service members have the courage and training to make those precious minutes count.”
Under Hegseth’s new policy, any denials of carry requests must be in writing, explaining “the reason for that denial will be in writing and will explain — in detail — the basis for that [decision].” At the Pentagon, personnel can now at least store firearms in their vehicles, though carrying inside the building remains restricted.
Meanwhile the people who have claimed for decades that only police and the military can be trusted with firearms, are now shrieking that members of the military can’t be trusted with firearms.
The change in policy is a long overdue step in the direction of common sense. Our troops swear an oath to protect America, often facing domestic threats as well as foreign ones. Recognizing their God-given right to self-defense isn’t just fair—it’s essential. Hopefully, authorization for licensed civilians to carry on bases will follow soon, further strengthening security for everyone who lives and works on these installations as well as visitors.
From the US Department of War:
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth signed a memorandum directing military installation commanders to allow War Department personnel — namely, uniformed service members — to request to carry privately owned firearms while in their nonofficial duty capacity on DOW property within the United States.
“Before today, it was virtually impossible … for War Department personnel to get permission to carry and store their own personal weapons aligned with the state laws where we operate our installations. … Well, that’s no longer,” Hegseth said during a social media video released today.
“The memo I’m signing today directs installation commanders to allow requests for personal protection — to carry a privately owned firearm — with the presumption that it is necessary for personal protection,” he continued.
At the video’s outset, Hegseth said the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment applies to all Americans, including those in uniform.
“The War Department’s uniformed service members are trained at the highest and unwavering standards. These warfighters — entrusted with the safety of our nation — are no less entitled to exercise their God-given right to keep and bear arms than any other American,” Hegseth said.
no nlawyer requests, permission, or restrictions. open carry @ any base, any time. or **** dick.
I was told many times that freedom was messy
It’s true.
I know, because I spent 22 years of my life on earth in the military. And I had no freedom the entire time.
If folks read “Starship Troopers” they would understand this.
Vet here. Base Commanders are going to dig in their heels and ignore this hoping SecWar will go away before they are forced to deal with it.
I look forward to the to the secretary of war punishing commanders for violating the civil rights of their personnel.
When those personnel start posting those written letters denying them their 2A amendment civil rights.
I want a government employee punished for violating the 2A for a change.
The gun store owner does not have to sell you anything. If he doesn’t want to. If he suspects you are of questionable moral character. And I have personally seen people denied a gun sale in the local stores here.
And as a supervisor in the military, there are many people that I would not authorize, to carry a gun off duty. And there are many that I would authorize, because I believe they are of good moral character.
And I’m sure the @theists don’t like that. That “morality thing” keeps popping up.
Good Moral Character has no meaning. It is subjective. 2A says nothing about morality. Nobody has the right to judge your rights based on their own biases.
Capitalism has a moral component. And that morality can vary from business to business. Also there is something called, “the freedom of association.” But many forget the flip side of that. “The freedom TO NOT associate.”
So as I have said previously, a gun seller doesn’t have to associate himself with a buyer, who wants to
buy a gun.
Whatever happened to that cornerstone of libertarianism that stated??? You don’t have to associate with somebody. Or you shouldn’t be forced to associate with somebody.
“Capitalism has a moral component. ”
The please don’t call it capitalism.
Yes it does. Because historically some people refused to be involved in the slave trade.
While others sell drugs to children. Even give them away. In hopes of creating new customers.
Capitalism.
“s a supervisor in the military, there are many people that I would not authorize, to carry a gun off duty”
then it is your duty to remove those people from the military.
For what reason??
I denied many things to people I didn’t trust because they demonstrated irresponsible behavior. That is not a reason to kick someone out.
But you can council them. Guide they. Give them a task. And see if they complete it. Without screwing up.
When they prove themselves to be responsible. Yes then authorize them a carry permit on Base.
Now an intoxicated civilian shouting he wants to murder someone. And is trying to buy a gun. You would support his purchase correct???
After all he has 1st amendment civil rights.
My local store posts signs saying they don’t sell to anyone smelling of marijuana.
Freedom is messy. And you don’t have to sell to anyone.
DOJ Comes Crashing Down on D.C.’s Gun Laws.
“While everyone is focusing on who the next United States Attorney General is going to be, today we focus on yet another big fight brewing in the District of Columbia. Washington Gun Law President, William Kirk, discusses the matter of United States v. District of Columbia, a lawsuit brought by DOJ challenging several of the District’s unconstitutional gun laws. What makes this lawsuit more interesting than others, is that because this action is being brought by the Federal Government against the District, the statute at play, linked up down below, is the focus of the District’s ridiculous attempt to have this lawsuit thrown out, and DOJ’s response from a new ally working on behalf of gun owners nationwide.”
ht* tps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFupvDLCMt0
Another public service – dem politician made extinct: Florida Dem Nancy Bowen’s husband charged with her murder in brutal shotgun killing—confessed to uncle he ‘couldn’t take it anymore’
ht* tps://thepostmillennial.com/florida-dem-nancy-bowens-husband-charged-with-her-murder-in-brutal-shotgun-killing-confessed-to-uncle-he-couldnt-take-it-anymore?utm_campaign=64470
She was “a kind fighter with a lively spirit”
Translation, she was an irrational, pottymouthed b***h.
Parents, protect your kids from Democrats. The Dems don’t even bother to hide it any more that they want your children and want so bad to just come right out and do it, and dance around that desire with careful wording – Idaho Democrat Tells Parents: Kids Belong to the State Once They Walk Into Class.
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One may think Idaho is a place where people still behave in a normal fashion. When it comes to Democrats in Idaho, one would be wrong.
Idaho Democrat Senator: ‘When your children walk into our classroom, they become ours… those kids in that classroom, they’re ours. They’re ours, too.’
These Communists think they own your kids.
[video]
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ht* tps://twitchy.com/justmindy/2026/04/03/idaho-democrat-senator-kids-are-ours-classroom-deangelis-n2426780
Left wing violence again, this time a wanna be murderer and pedophile AKA the LGBTQ+ movements ‘Minor Attracted Person’: Makai Nordfors arrested in Utah for attempted human trafficking of drugged baby, wrote about ‘love for murder’ in manifesto.
ht* tps://thepostmillennial.com/makai-nordfors-arrested-in-utah-for-attempted-human-trafficking-of-drugged-baby-wrote-about-love-for-murder-in-manifesto?utm_campaign=64470
Left wing violence, this time domestic terrorism and illegal aliens: Illegal … [alien] parents of anchor baby siblings charged in MacDill bomb plot arrested by ICE
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The Department of Homeland Security announced on Friday that it has arrested the illegal immigrant parents of Ann Mary and Alen Zheng, the two siblings indicted on charges related to the placement of an explosive device at Florida’s MacDill Air Force Base.
The DHS said that the two siblings were granted US citizenship after they were born on US soil by illegal immigrant parents. On March 18, the parents, Qiu Qin Zou and Jia Zhang Zheng, were taken into ICE custody. The department said they entered the US illegally ‘at an unknown place’ from China.
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ht* tps://thepostmillennial.com/illegal-immigrant-parents-of-anchor-baby-siblings-charged-in-macdill-bomb-plot-arrested-by-ice?utm_campaign=64470
Left wing violence, this time illegal alien murderers: Illegal … [aliens] charged in 75% of this year’s murders in Fairfax County, VA – DHS [note: 3 out of 4 murders committed by illegal aliens]
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‘Governor Spanberger must end her sanctuary policies that allow these illegal aliens onto our streets and work with DHS to protect the citizens of the commonwealth.’
…”
ht* tps://thepostmillennial.com/illegal-immigrants-charged-in-75-of-this-years-murders-in-fairfax-county-va-dhs?utm_campaign=64470
“permission to carry and store their own personal weapons aligned with the state laws where we operate our installations”
Servicemembers from, say, Indiana should be able to bring their sidearms to a base in California without needing California’s permission. The servicemember is not staying in California forever.
Why Military Bases Should Never Have Been Gun-Free Zones.
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…Most mass attackers expect to die during the assault, so the threat of additional punishment carries no weight. Even if they survive, they already face multiple life sentences or the death penalty.
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Military police guard base entrances, but like civilian police, they cannot be everywhere. Military bases function like cities, and MPs face the same limitations as police responding to mass shootings off base.
Uniformed officers are easy to identify, and that gives attackers a real tactical advantage. Attackers can wait for an officer to leave the area or move on to another target – either choice reduces the chance that an officer will be present to stop the attack. And if the attacker strikes anyway, whom do you think they target first?
Research shows that civilians with concealed handgun permits are more likely to stop active shooting attacks. By contrast, although police stop fewer attacks, attackers kill them at much higher rates – police are twelve times more likely to be killed.
After the second Fort Hood terrorist attack, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley – then commander of Thirds Corps at that base – testified to Congress: ‘We have adequate law enforcement on those bases to respond … those police responded within eight minutes and that guy was dead.’ But those eight minutes proved far too long for the three soldiers who were murdered and the 12 others who were wounded.
Time after time, murderers exploit regulations that guarantee they’ll face no armed resistance. Diaries and manifestos of mass public shooters show a chilling trend: They deliberately choose gun-free zones, knowing their victims can’t fight back. While we don’t yet know if the Fort Stewart shooter made that same calculation, his actions fit a pattern seen in dozens of other cases. It’s no coincidence that 93% of mass public shootings happen in places where guns are banned.
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ht* tps://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2026/04/04/why_military_bases_should_never_have_been_gun-free_zones_154013.html