In 1992, the George H.W. Bush administration started reshaping the military into a more “professional, business-like environment.” That shift led to tighter restrictions on firearms. In 1993, President Clinton rewrote and implemented those restrictions, effectively banning soldiers from carrying personal firearms on base.
After the 2015 Chattanooga recruiting station attack, the military slightly loosened the rules. Commanders gained the authority to approve individual service members to carry privately owned firearms. But in practice, commanders rarely grant that permission.
Importantly, U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan were required to keep their weapons on them at all times — even on base. These soldiers needed to protect themselves against threats, and there are no known cases of them turning those weapons on each other. The policy worked.
So why do we make it easy for killers to target our own troops at home? Why do we force soldiers, like those at Fort Stewart, to tackle armed attackers with bare hands?
Let’s stop pretending that gun-free zones protect anyone. They only protect killers.
— John R. Lott, Jr. in Gun-Free Zones Like Fort Stewart Invite Mass Shootings
Retired after nearly 22 years in the USArmy. Never saw a person in civilian clothes with a gun. Until just yesterday on Post.
He was open carrying with a leg holster rig. Walking into the PX. He also had a radio in his back pocket. He was most likely an off-duty MP. Or perhaps a CID guy. But if he was, they never would have open carried a sidearm back in my day.
Still, it was good to see.
When I go onto a military base you have to disarm. Unload and lock up your gun. But I always carry pepper spray. And a glock 81 knife. It has a 7 inch blade. And I conceal it.
Yes, that’s correct.
You can do it with the proper holster and cover garment.
You are allowed to keep a gun in military quarters. But not singles soldiers in the barracks. They have to keep their privatly owned guns in their unit arms room.
Btw
Always remember. The Generals are never without their armed escorts. Just like Nancy Pelosi when she was Speaker. And yes she still has armed government guards.
When the gate guards went away under President Clinton. Crime on military installations went up. It seems criminals didn’t see a uniformed guard so they just came onto base, and stole and robbed folks.
But Clinton still had his secret service agents protecting him and the white house, where he sleeped.
“When the gate guards went away under President Clinton. Crime on military installations went up. It seems criminals didn’t see a uniformed guard so they just came onto base, and stole and robbed folks.”
You know, Bill Clinton was president from 1993 until 2000.
But hey, that doesn’t fit your narrative so I can understand why you ignore the actual facts of history.
“In response to increased security needs after the September 11th terrorist attacks, the US military, including the Army, began utilizing private contractors to supplement or replace military personnel at base gates. This change was initially authorized by Congress in 2002 to address the reduced availability of military personnel due to deployments. In late 2003, for instance, the Army started transitioning gate security to private contractors at various installations.
However, this reliance on private contractors has been a subject of ongoing debate and policy shifts. In 2012, the Army announced plans to replace contract security guards with Department of the Army (DA) security guards (federal employees) at many installations, citing the need to meet congressional mandates and insourcing targets. According to an Army.mil article from September 28, 2012, during this transition period, military personnel, including Military Police, would fill the gate guard roles until the DA civilian force was fully hired and trained. Some reports suggest that by 2014, private security had begun to disappear from many base gates, being replaced by DoD civilian police or security, notes a December 2019 Quora post.”
They had civilian guards as far back as 1983. When I got to Ft Eustis in Va. But you never served. So you never saw the things I have seen or have done.
It has been quite common to use civilian security for low level locations. But Clinton removed all gate guards from most installations. After he became President. He, like you, and so many other foolish people, believed that the world was safer. After the berlin wall came down.
But that didn’t stop the draft dodger in chief, from sending soldiers to fight and die in the former yugoslavia.
And it didn’t stop Secretary Clinton and President Obama from sending thousands of American military personnel, to overthrow the Libyan government and murder Gaddafi.
Which all of that restarted the black african slave trade.
I’m sure you’re very proud of that as a white leftist.
“President Obama from sending thousands of American military personnel, to overthrow the Libyan government and murder Gaddafi“
Well, thank you for showing your true colors, which are not red, white and blue.
Murder Gaddafi?
“The Pan Am Flight 103 bombing, also known as the Lockerbie bombing, resulted in the deaths of 270 people, including 190 Americans. Among the American fatalities were 15 active-duty military personnel and 10 veterans.”
“In 2003, under pressure from international sanctions, the Libyan government, led by Muammar Gaddafi, officially accepted responsibility for the bombing and agreed to pay substantial compensation to the victims’ families. However, Gaddafi himself denied personally ordering the attack.
Conviction of Libyan Intelligence Agent: In 2001, a Scottish court convicted Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence agent, for his role in the bombing.”
I think it is you who is in service of the terrorists who killed innocent Americans in disguise over Scotland.
here’s Miner49er again, lying by cherry picking out of context and then falsely accuses based upon his own lying by cherry picking out of context.
Miner49er doesn’t understand context. He was talking about military gate guards. When they went away crime went up on military bases as the civilian gate guards simply let them in. Thus the change to DOD trained in the contextual protection of government resources where the contract civilians previously were trained to general relaxed security like you find in shopping centers.
Y’all were just full of shit, Clinton did not remove gate guards from US military basis.
You make these wild claims, but never offer any evidence.
In fact, it was the George Bush administration that restricted carrying a firearms on military basis:
“It was during the presidency of George H.W. Bush, not Bill Clinton, that the U.S. Department of Defense issued a directive in February 1992 affecting the carrying of firearms on bases by military personnel. That directive was eventually implemented through a regulation 190-14 issued by the Department of the Army (not via executive order) in March 1993, just two months after President Clinton assumed office.“
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/alarming-disarming/
How sad that you must openly lie to support your narrative.
“Y’all were just full of shit, Clinton did not remove gate guards from US military basis.”
Once again Miner49er demonstrates that he does not understand context.
Clinton did indeed remove gate guards from US military basis – he removed military personnel gate guards and replaced them with civilian contract ‘security company’ rent-a-cops-mall-secutity-hourly paid minimum wage types.
“Clinton did indeed remove gate guards from US military basis – he removed military personnel gate guards“
That’s your claim, yet you have no evidence to support your bullshit.
Just because you make an assertion does not mean it’s correct, it usually just means you’re lying to support your delusions.
Prove your claim, or it’s just more bullshit conservative propaganda.
Thank you sir.
The democrat mayors in 2020 also did what Clinton did. They also ordered the police to stand down.
And crime went up in the major cities. And several of them were burned to the ground. Just like in california this year.
And those areas have yet to be rebuilt.
“And several of them were burned to the ground. Just like in california this year“
So exactly which cities in California were “burned to the ground”?
Just for the record , gaddafi gave up his atomic weapons program. During, the Bush the son, administration.
And just as the United States is now friends with Japan,Italy and Germany. The world war two axis powers.
The United States was on its way to having a good relationship with Libya. Unfortunate.
Ly the democrat party likes war. And the anti-war in Vietnam crowd was totally supporting the Democrat President Obama. Murdering the Libya government.
stop being the typical insecure left wing child Miner49er and stay out of discussion for subjects you do not understand.
Moderation???
I see miner/missy has yet to figure out that it is over. The progressive, fascist, liberal left is done.
I’m not surprised, really. There are still people in the world that try to tell us hitler wasn’t the bad guy. Sad how delusional some of these true believers are.