Right To Keep And Bear Arms Pros And Cons
1. The right to keep and bear arms is a constitutional right that should not be infringed upon. With firearms so easily accessible by the public and increasing world incidents, protection of our own armed forces must be paramount. The purpose of this position paper is advocate why concealed carry should be allowed for all members of the United States Armed Forces while on stateside military installations.
2. Department of Defense Directive 5210.56, introduced in 1992, brought major changes in effort to limit access to firearms for both military and civilian Department of Defense employees. This directive limited carry of firearms on stateside military installations to law enforcement and security personnel.1
3. Since the directive’s release
in 1992, there have been seven shootings resulting in five or more causalities on domestic military installations. These seven events add up to a staggering 41 killed and 96 wounded.4 This all occurred following the disarming of military members on domestic bases. The last mention of base shootings up until this point, date back to World War II.
4. Currently, as mentioned above, it is the responsibility of law enforcement and security personnel to carry firearms and respond to these emergencies on domestic military installations. However, regardless of how well trained the personnel are, there is always the limiting factor of time. For example, the 2014 Fort Hood shooting may be investigated. It is reported that security personnel arrived on scene within four minutes of the first 911 notifications.2 This may seem like a very rapid response time, but there are other factors to consider. Before the call, there would have been confusion and orientation before officials were contacted, which can account for a few minutes. In addition, more time was required to find the active shooter after arriving on scene, which leads up to the reported shooting duration of 15 to 20 minutes.2 This is a massive amount of time.
5. If the Department of Defense were to allow military members to conceal carry on domestic installations, there would be three main benefits. These benefits are deterrence, resistance, and protection. If a pending active shooter were to know that they would quickly be met by an undetermined amount of force, they may become hesitant to actually follow through with their actions. Commonly, at the first glimpse of resistance, active shooters either surrender or take their own life.3 Numerous firearms being drawn on the active shooter instantaneously can certainly achieve this result of resistance. If the above two fail, a concealed firearm would provide the armed forces member a chance to defend themselves and those around them. Without a firearm, the armed forces member is at a severe disadvantage to an active shooter.
6. There are measures being taken in support of firearm carry on domestic installations for all military members. The recent National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016, would have allowed commander authorized firearm carry for any military member and received approval from both Congress and the Senate. However, this act was ultimately vetoed by President Obama in October of 2015 for financial reasons.
7. I recommend that the Department of Defense and the Government must take action to reinstate the allowance of concealed carry on stateside military installations. In an increasingly dangerous world, the protection of members in the U.S. Armed Forces must be a top priority.
2. Department of Defense Directive 5210.56, introduced in 1992, brought major changes in effort to limit access to firearms for both military and civilian Department of Defense employees. This directive limited carry of firearms on stateside military installations to law enforcement and security personnel.1
3. Since the directive’s release
in 1992, there have been seven shootings resulting in five or more causalities on domestic military installations. These seven events add up to a staggering 41 killed and 96 wounded.4 This all occurred following the disarming of military members on domestic bases. The last mention of base shootings up until this point, date back to World War II.
4. Currently, as mentioned above, it is the responsibility of law enforcement and security personnel to carry firearms and respond to these emergencies on domestic military installations. However, regardless of how well trained the personnel are, there is always the limiting factor of time. For example, the 2014 Fort Hood shooting may be investigated. It is reported that security personnel arrived on scene within four minutes of the first 911 notifications.2 This may seem like a very rapid response time, but there are other factors to consider. Before the call, there would have been confusion and orientation before officials were contacted, which can account for a few minutes. In addition, more time was required to find the active shooter after arriving on scene, which leads up to the reported shooting duration of 15 to 20 minutes.2 This is a massive amount of time.
5. If the Department of Defense were to allow military members to conceal carry on domestic installations, there would be three main benefits. These benefits are deterrence, resistance, and protection. If a pending active shooter were to know that they would quickly be met by an undetermined amount of force, they may become hesitant to actually follow through with their actions. Commonly, at the first glimpse of resistance, active shooters either surrender or take their own life.3 Numerous firearms being drawn on the active shooter instantaneously can certainly achieve this result of resistance. If the above two fail, a concealed firearm would provide the armed forces member a chance to defend themselves and those around them. Without a firearm, the armed forces member is at a severe disadvantage to an active shooter.
6. There are measures being taken in support of firearm carry on domestic installations for all military members. The recent National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016, would have allowed commander authorized firearm carry for any military member and received approval from both Congress and the Senate. However, this act was ultimately vetoed by President Obama in October of 2015 for financial reasons.
7. I recommend that the Department of Defense and the Government must take action to reinstate the allowance of concealed carry on stateside military installations. In an increasingly dangerous world, the protection of members in the U.S. Armed Forces must be a top priority.