Allow the military to carry personal firearms on military bases

OPINION:

On Jan. 13, Attorney General William Barr announced that the Dec. 6 attack on the Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida was an act of terrorism.

The attack was carried out by a member of the Royal Saudi Air Force who was assigned to the base for pilot training. Motivated by jihadist ideology, he entered the base and shot and killed in cold blood three American sailors and wounded eight others prior to being killed by security forces.     

“During and after this heinous attack, there were many specific acts of courage, and I want to draw special attention to two U.S. Marines: Gunnery Sgt. Ryan Maisel and Staff Sgt. Samuel Mullins,” Mr. Barr said at the press conference. “They were outside the building when they heard gunfire and, although unarmed, they ran into the building to confront the shooter. Their only weapon was a fire extinguisher that they had pulled off the wall as they ran toward the gunfire. Who but the Marines?

“We are grateful as well for the bravery of the base personnel and local law enforcement responders who initially arrived at the scene and engaged the shooter.”

Although the security response to the shooting was quick and effective in taking out the shooter, perhaps had those brave Marines been armed with their personal firearms rather than a fire extinguisher, fewer people would have been shot and killed.

I stood my fair share of security watches while serving in the U.S. Navy, and later as a Defense Department (DOD) civilian I oversaw physical security and other programs for a tenant command at a naval base in Philadelphia. DOD policy prohibited military and civilian personnel from bringing their personal firearms onto the naval base, even if they possessed a valid Pennsylvania License to Carry Firearms, and even though our military people had more training and more experience with firearms than the armed civilian contract security officers we employed to guard the base.

Good security calls for having several rings of defense and allowing military people to arm themselves adds another ring.   

On Dec. 17, Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, where the Naval Air Station shooting occurred, called on the military to allow officers to carry their personal firearms on bases.

“It defies logic that our men and women in uniform, who we train to operate multi-million-dollar pieces of military equipment and trust to keep our country safe, are not allowed to carry firearms on U.S. military bases. It’s time for this policy to change. The terrorist attack at NAS Pensacola shows that it’s more important than ever for our men and women in uniform to be in a position to defend themselves. I will work with the leadership of the Armed Services Committees and the Department of Defense to see what needs to be done to change this policy and allow military officers to carry firearms on U.S. military bases.” 

In my view, senior enlisted personnel should also be allowed to carry personal firearms on bases.

President Trump had previously voiced his support for allowing military people to arm themselves on bases. He vowed to review the policy at a conference in February 2018.

“If we can’t have our military holding guns, it’s pretty bad,” Mr. Trump said. “So we want to protect our military. We want to make our military stronger and better than it’s ever been.    

“We’re going to look at that whole military base gun-free zone.”

Many senior military leaders and base commanders are against this, so the decision should not be left to individual base commanders. If a military member authorized to carry a personal firearm on base uses it illegally, the base commander would be held responsible, but if a lone wolf shooter uses an unauthorized firearm to kill people, the base commander would not generally be held responsible. This makes some military commanders risk-averse.

The policy should be across the board, with base commanders having to show due cause why a certain individual cannot be permitted to carry a firearm on the base.    

I recall being stationed at the naval base in Philadelphia on Sept. 11, 2001, when the horrific terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington D.C., occurred. We didn’t know what was coming next, so we worked hard and quick to plan and defend against any attack.

The 9/11 terrorist attacks forced the DOD to enhance security on military bases at home and abroad.

Today, the many lone wolf attacks on military bases should also force the DOD to once again re-evaluate our security posture and allow military people to carry their personal firearms on bases.

After all, the military people are members of the armed forces.

• Paul Davis covers crime, espionage and terrorism.