Nearly a year ago, Nidal Hasan (I won’t use an Army rank he doesn’t deserve to wear) walked into the Fort Hood deployment processing center and killed or injured more than 40 of his fellow troops – MY fellow troops. As a result of this shooting, the DOD and many installations, including Fort Hood, conducted an assessment of their weapons policies. Fort Hood, for example, mandated the registration of any and all privately owned weapons transported or stored on Fort Hood. This is great for those that follow the rules, but would not have prevented Hasan from doing what he did.
Some installations like Forts Campbell and Bliss went so far as to require registration of weapons owned by troops who lived OFF post. Insane, I know! Worse, Fort Riley imposed regulations that also required that weapons be registered that are owned by Soldiers’ family members residing anywhere in Kansas!
C. Military personnel will:
(1) Register all their privately-owned firearms and the firearms of their Family members that are stored in their residence or within the state of Kansas, with their unit commander.
FR Regulation 190-1, para 7c(1), dated 15 March 2010
Shocked and/or outraged? Well, according to American Rifleman magazine, Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe has offered an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for FY11, which was adopted on May 27 in a voice vote by the Senate Armed Services Committee. The amendment would:
* Prohibit DOD from restricting “acquisition, possession, ownership, carrying or other use” of personally owned firearms by service members and DOD civilian while off base;
* Prohibit DOD from requiring registration of guns stored off base;
* Nullify military orders and regulations that impose such restrictions;
* Require DOD to destroy existing gun registration records on off-base firearms;
* Preserve DOD’s authority to “regulate the possession, carrying or other use of a firearm, ammunition or other weapon” by personnel on-duty or in military uniform; and
* Preserve DOD’s authority to keep records related to criminal and other legitimate investigations
I whole-heartedly support this amendment and agree that our Constitutional right to keep and bear arms uninfringed while off-base and off-duty should be protected. I support Senator Inhofe in his efforts to move this out of committee and the through the legislative process.
