GAC06 said:

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Good. Right now I'm not allowed to wear my uniform driving base, but I'm certainly not allowed to carry my personal firearm I have a license to carry in my car onto base.

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Yea y'all's uniform rules are wild. Blew my mind first time I worked with a Marine at a CCMD a decade ago and he couldn't go to lunch off base cause y'all have that policy.

Agreed about the off base uniform policy (which I've routinely ignored for a long time), I'm saying since Iran kicked off I'm not allowed to drive to base even without making stops in uniform because of the "threat". But I also can't carry my legally permitted firearm in my car.

maverick2076 said:

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13B said:

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maverick2076 said:

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13B said:

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I have mixed emotions about it. On the one hand I can agree with the above sentiments with exception that not everybody carries nor are entrusted weapons while deployed. You "should" be able to trust military men and women to carry.

BUT

Tell me you have never lived in Enlisted Dorms or with some Officers for that matter without telling me you never have. Not all members of the military are trained up with weaponry like those that utilize them as a regular part of their jobs. You are going to put security forces in much more danger when they have to respond to a domestic disturbance (which happens just about every night or multiple times) or the dumb, drunk kids in the dorms. Hell, they Barney Fife'd us during Desert Shield/Storm and OEF by keeping our pistols locked in one box at the back of the jet and the bullets locked up at the front of the jet because of dip$#!+s fast drawing them and spinning them around their fingers while were transit to the war zone.

I could be wrong but I have seen too many bad things happen because of immaturity or just pure dumbness and am afraid that this will only exacerbate that situation to a greater level. I hope I am wrong.

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You can say the same things about college dorms, apartment complexes in college towns, or anywhere else. The "blood in the streets" arguments have been made against concealed carry, open carry, campus carry, church carry, Constitutional carry, etc. None of them have ever come to fruition. None of those feelings trump God-given rights to self-defense.

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Like I said, I could be wrong about it (with exception of it making it exponentially more dangerous for security forces responding to disturbances), I hope I am but based off of my almost 25 years in the military, I can understand why things were the way they were. Time will tell. Hopefully, military personnel will step up and treat their weapons with the respect they demand. I've seen too many distraught young people in stressful situations that would have possibly made really bad decisions with ready access on base/post.

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Almost 26 years in myself, just retired last year. Carry on base was verboten because risk-averse senior leadership thought the "commoners" were too stupid to be entrusted with firearms.

None of the arguments against carry on post have any evidence behind them, just emotion. Those same emotional arguments have been made against every other restoration of self-defense rights, and they've never borne fruit.

Will there be more firearm incidents on base? Most likely. Will they be any more common than incidents among similar demographics off base? Doubtful. Are any of these incidents valid reason to restrict self-defense rights? Absolutely not.

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Agreed. A largely disarmed domestic Army is a very old tradition in this country. The senior leaders in our army have always had a probably a sometimes justifiable distrust of non commissioned soldiers. That's been true in every western army for a long time.

I agree with the decision. Soldiers should be able to carry on base.

GAC06 said:

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Agreed about the off base uniform policy (which I've routinely ignored for a long time), I'm saying since Iran kicked off I'm not allowed to drive to base even without making stops in uniform because of the "threat". But I also can't carry my legally permitted firearm in my car.

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Oh gotcha

Fightin_Aggie said:

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maverick2076 said:

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Ridgeback85 said:

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I had no idea that was a thing. Who decided it was in the best interest of safety disarm the military?

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Risk averse senior officers who treat enlisted members and junior officers like children.

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I doubt that. The armed forces are always the testing grounds for facists

More likely a politician looking to force gun free zones

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The DoD doesn't currently ban firearms on base / post. It's up to the base/post commanders, who are risk averse and largely have very little knowledge of firearms.

Military police, who are technically federal police, disarm at the end of their shift, no take home guns.

Gaeilge said:

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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

I'm a fan of this - Our military installations, by definition, could be considered soft targets as gun-free zones. They're properly trained and given fully automatic firearms to carry into battle to protect themselves and our country; they should be afforded their right to do so at home.

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Good. Now force Sig to replace all M18/M17s with P229/P226s so we can avoid the inevitable FC private blowing off his privates.

Several issues...

1. Like anything, some folks are better than others. I had a LTC who tried to load 9mm rounds backwards into his magazine. No way that fool should have a gun.

2. The SecWar's statement that the right is God given - agree. But to say a few seconds later that this God given right only applies to uniformed personnel is CRAP.

3. The SecWar also stated that you still have to seek permission "from the crown" to carry. Granted, the Senior Commander must have good reason to reject.

my prediction...this will be a big nothing burger for one reason: very few people will want to deal with the responsibility of maintaining proper control of their weapon while on base. The consequences of mishandling will be severe. Most servicemembers will not want the extra thing to keep up with. There will likely be regulations put in place about where you can store (i.e., locked in the truck, locked in the locker at the gym, probably won't be allowed). You are already allowed to have a weapon on post in your personal residence, so no change there.

Thank you! 100%.

Fdsa said:

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my prediction...this will be a big nothing burger for one reason: very few people will want to deal with the responsibility of maintaining proper control of their weapon while on base. The consequences of mishandling will be severe. Most servicemembers will not want the extra thing to keep up with. There will likely be regulations put in place about where you can store (i.e., locked in the truck, locked in the locker at the gym, probably won't be allowed). You are already allowed to have a weapon on post in your personal residence, so no change there.

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When did this change? Granted, I retired in 2011 and soooo much has changed but I'm curious as to when this particular item changed? Of course, I'm looking through the lens of the bases I was stationed, maybe it has been that way forever and just not at the bases I was assigned?

13B said:

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Fdsa said:

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my prediction...this will be a big nothing burger for one reason: very few people will want to deal with the responsibility of maintaining proper control of their weapon while on base. The consequences of mishandling will be severe. Most servicemembers will not want the extra thing to keep up with. There will likely be regulations put in place about where you can store (i.e., locked in the truck, locked in the locker at the gym, probably won't be allowed). You are already allowed to have a weapon on post in your personal residence, so no change there.

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When did this change? Granted, I retired in 2011 and soooo much has changed but I'm curious as to when this particular item changed? Of course, I'm looking through the lens of the bases I was stationed, maybe it has been that way forever and just not at the bases I was assigned?

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I only lived on post once from 2017-2019…had probably 20 weapons in my home. I did have to let the MPs know that I had them, but that was a quick process. They gave me a form to carry with me when I came on and off post. Whenever I did that, I just told the gate guard I was carrying my weapons and there was no issue.

agsalaska said:

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maverick2076 said:

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13B said:

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maverick2076 said:

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13B said:

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I have mixed emotions about it. On the one hand I can agree with the above sentiments with exception that not everybody carries nor are entrusted weapons while deployed. You "should" be able to trust military men and women to carry.

BUT

Tell me you have never lived in Enlisted Dorms or with some Officers for that matter without telling me you never have. Not all members of the military are trained up with weaponry like those that utilize them as a regular part of their jobs. You are going to put security forces in much more danger when they have to respond to a domestic disturbance (which happens just about every night or multiple times) or the dumb, drunk kids in the dorms. Hell, they Barney Fife'd us during Desert Shield/Storm and OEF by keeping our pistols locked in one box at the back of the jet and the bullets locked up at the front of the jet because of dip$#!+s fast drawing them and spinning them around their fingers while were transit to the war zone.

I could be wrong but I have seen too many bad things happen because of immaturity or just pure dumbness and am afraid that this will only exacerbate that situation to a greater level. I hope I am wrong.

---

You can say the same things about college dorms, apartment complexes in college towns, or anywhere else. The "blood in the streets" arguments have been made against concealed carry, open carry, campus carry, church carry, Constitutional carry, etc. None of them have ever come to fruition. None of those feelings trump God-given rights to self-defense.

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Like I said, I could be wrong about it (with exception of it making it exponentially more dangerous for security forces responding to disturbances), I hope I am but based off of my almost 25 years in the military, I can understand why things were the way they were. Time will tell. Hopefully, military personnel will step up and treat their weapons with the respect they demand. I've seen too many distraught young people in stressful situations that would have possibly made really bad decisions with ready access on base/post.

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Almost 26 years in myself, just retired last year. Carry on base was verboten because risk-averse senior leadership thought the "commoners" were too stupid to be entrusted with firearms.

None of the arguments against carry on post have any evidence behind them, just emotion. Those same emotional arguments have been made against every other restoration of self-defense rights, and they've never borne fruit.

Will there be more firearm incidents on base? Most likely. Will they be any more common than incidents among similar demographics off base? Doubtful. Are any of these incidents valid reason to restrict self-defense rights? Absolutely not.

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Agreed. A largely disarmed domestic Army is a very old tradition in this country. The senior leaders in our army have always had a probably a sometimes justifiable distrust of non commissioned soldiers. That's been true in every western army for a long time.

I agree with the decision. Soldiers should be able to carry on base.

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??

DoD Directive 5210.56 was signed in 1992. Granted, that's not exactly yesterday but it isn't what I'd call a 'very old tradition' either, unless you are talking about something different that I'm not able to scrounge up in what little brain I have functioning this morning.

Can you imagine the fools that decide your military installations should be no carry zones?

It was performative bull*****

No it's gonna be the wild Wild West with shootouts on every corner just like when they legalized concealed carry. And wow when we got open carry it really got nuts. All those law-abiding non-felons just lost their damn fool minds and started shooting everyone.

bam02 said:

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No it's gonna be the wild Wild West with shootouts on every corner just like when they legalized concealed carry. And wow when we got open carry it really got nuts. All those law-abiding non-felons just lost their damn fool minds and started shooting everyone.

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I think the pause from certain military members on this board is because we've had the duty phone on a Friday night or UCMJ authority…there is some unbelievably stupid stuff that happens out there.

Fdsa said:

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bam02 said:

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No it's gonna be the wild Wild West with shootouts on every corner just like when they legalized concealed carry. And wow when we got open carry it really got nuts. All those law-abiding non-felons just lost their damn fool minds and started shooting everyone.

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I think the pause from certain military members on this board is because we've had the duty phone on a Friday night or UCMJ authority…there is some unbelievably stupid stuff that happens out there.

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That same thing can be applied to anywhere, anytime though.

For sure. I'm thinking more in a barracks setting. I imagine there will be some regulations in place there. You have your youngest service-members there, who have yet to fully prove their maturity. Most are just fine. Some make some really terrible choices. They're just young and often had terrible parenting.

It's the same stupid stuff that happens in college dorms, apartment complexes, oilfield hang-outs, country bars, back porches, front porches, etc. everywhere across the country. Military members don't have a monopoly on being young and stupid.

None of the fearmongering that is being shared here has ever come to fruition when law-abiding citizen's natural rights of self-defense were restored.

I had plenty young (and old) soldiers and officers do stupid crap throughout my career. None of it makes me think they should be disarmed.

How many enlisted are still living in barracks over 21? I'm truly curious, because I would think a lot of them go off base after a year or two. My brother is 18 years in and only ever lived in military housing was in Jacksonville as I recall.

You still need to be 21 to purchase a pistol, so that 'should' keep a large concern mitigated.

Another of those should've been done on day one things.

Some stupid takes here from some fear mongers.

I've worked plenty of CQ duty and I've spent upwards of 10 years in training environments. Yeah there are some young kids letting loose, but if they wanted to kill each other they could do it regardless of this new guidance.

These asinine leaders live in such fear that we regulate our troops to the point we show we don't trust them.

If this actually goes into effect, our bases are no longer soft targets and there will not be any wild Bill shootouts. I don't see any negatives.

I've battled long and hard to end the stupid ban on cadets having sex in their dorms at USAFA, but everytime I end up stymied by some senior officer that starts lecturing me on the orgies that would ensure if sex were not prohibited.

It seems like a silly thing to fight over something like sex in the dorms, or even troops carrying, but it's systemic through all officer ranks that they are taught to be risk averse and to assume the worst from their people. IMO if I can trust you to load the weapons on an F35 I can trust you not to shoot your colleagues or have orgies in the dorms. i.e. I trust my people, but that's oddly not the norm in the military and several times I've had to answer for my leadership style because I'm considered too trusting.

Unless there was an inbetween change, what this primarily does it change the base/post commanders decision making from a MAY issue, to a SHALL issue permission...

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2016/11/21/dod-releases-plan-allow-personnel-carry-firearms-base.html

That article is 10 years old.

maverick2076 said:

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That article is 10 years old.

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Yes, that's when the rule changed to allow carry on base, at the commanders discretion.