In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.
Shooting stirs questions about arming recruiters
Sperry
Member Posts: 5,006 ✭✭✭
Lemmie get this straight.
Our beloved Queen is arming Federal employees out the wazoo, including the USDA and FDA, but military recruiters are not armed?
Shooting stirs questions about arming military recruiters
Jul 17, 5:00 PM (ET)
By * C. BALDOR
WASHINGTON (AP) - As Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith fights for his life after being shot at a military support center in Tennessee, his grandmother wonders why troops at recruiting and reserve offices aren't allowed to have guns . . .
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20150717/us--chattanooga_shooting-military_security-b9b9ab61d3.html
Our beloved Queen is arming Federal employees out the wazoo, including the USDA and FDA, but military recruiters are not armed?
Shooting stirs questions about arming military recruiters
Jul 17, 5:00 PM (ET)
By * C. BALDOR
WASHINGTON (AP) - As Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith fights for his life after being shot at a military support center in Tennessee, his grandmother wonders why troops at recruiting and reserve offices aren't allowed to have guns . . .
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20150717/us--chattanooga_shooting-military_security-b9b9ab61d3.html
Comments
Some top Army General was quoted in the news saying it would be "problematical" to arm many troops here on the Stateside bases.
You know what Mr General Sir? With all due respect and appreciation we did not give you those General's stars because we figured you couldn't solve a problem.
The Right blames Clinton for the law, and the Left says Bush signed it. Who gives a ratsazz who did it, grow a pair, show some common sense, and undo it!
We weren't issued weapons on the plane when flying in the arctic circle, so I and the radar operator carried our own personal weapons for defence against polar bears if we went down. It wasn't authorized, but the knowledge was limited to our crew and the pilots thought it was a good idea.
After Fort Hood I imagined the wake up call had to finally be loud enough and we'd see the "disarmed military at home" mindset finally put to rest. Nope, even top brass continued to pretend it was more important at home for the military to project a friendly and welcoming image to the citizens they serve.
I continue to hear this sort of chatter from general officers even today.
Do these people, politicians of all parties and high ranks of military command actually imagine the American people do not know what their our military does for a living? Do they seriously believe the American public would see guns in the hands of their military and they'd think "EEKK! TOO SCARY! PUT THOSE GUNS AWAY"?
Wait for it campers, I would not be in the least bit surprised if, should the outcry now be loud enough to force some action, that action will be to contract out security at recruiting centers. Private guards, suit jacket and ties. Maybe a .38 snubbie and a personal sized Taser on the belt, discreetly carried of course.
Wouldn't want to scare the potential recruits with the image of guns after all. They could get the wrong idea about military service being "risky" or possibly even "dangerous".
Yeah, that could impact recruitment targets, put a kink in somebody's advancement.
Now that'd be really really really bad!
The US military has always had a problem with small arms accountability. During the 10 years following the Viet Nam War, the US military lost more small in CONUS than were lost in combat during the entire Viet Nam War!
Yes, it was stupid for the Draft Dodger President to think that banning the carrying of firearms on military bases was a good idea. But, most of the time, most soldiers on a base probably shouldn't be armed. Band practice? PT? Swimming? Cooking? Cleaning? Eating? Sleeping? What are they supposed to do with their rifles/pistols? How many are going to get lost or damaged? Yes, it IS problematic.
I can see providing officers & NCO's with an arms locker in their quarters, & making it optional for them to carry, based on their daily activities. The secret of deterrence is to make it impossible for a terrorist to be certain that he will not encounter opposition.
I'm just not comfortable with cooks & musicians carrying on base.
Neal
There's your answer.
I will never understand why those recruiters were not armed. This is beyond absurd in my opinion. Oakie
Cames are large enough to carry a 1911 in a shoulder holster.
Or an XD40 IWB.
Start with people doing work where a pistol on the belt is not in the way. Senior people, NCO's, officers maybe who can qualify with the gun. Can such people be all that rare in the armed forces?
Because if they are all that rare we have bigger problems to worry about.
ajc.com
A recruiter at the Armed Forces Recruiting Center in Gainesville brought a gun inside the center Friday and accidentally shot himself in the leg, police said.
It wasn't immediately clear why the unidentified recruiter brought the gun to the Dawsonville Highway center. Soldiers are not allowed to bring weapons inside the center, Channel 2 Action News reported.
"Given recent incidents in Chattanooga we know the public may be concerned about the police presence, there is no need for public alarm, this was an accidental shooting," Gainesville police said in a statement on the department's Facebook page.
The recruiter was taken to Northeast Georgia Medical Center after the incident, which occurred about 11 a.m., according to Channel 2. His condition was not known
They've armed every federal gubermint alphabet agency, but our "armed forces" are not armed. WTH?
The Right blames Clinton for the law, and the Left says Bush signed it. Who gives a ratsazz who did it, grow a pair, show some common sense, and undo it!
Either that or rename them the "unarmed targets" so these kids will have a better idea of what they're getting into.
Alright so I do not doubt there are problems. All I'm saying is solve them instead of this default "It's too hard we quit" approach that's become so popular.
Start with people doing work where a pistol on the belt is not in the way. Senior people, NCO's, officers maybe who can qualify with the gun. Can such people be all that rare in the armed forces?
Because if they are all that rare we have bigger problems to worry about.
You're right. Back in 1969 an intermediate ship repair facility lost a ship's screw for a large ship. Somehow my Navy didn't abandon the practice of going to sea because somebody lost a ship's screw.
The Marine Corps has lost a lot of Marines to quick draw contests while relieving the watch. All services have a problem with suicide. These problems can be solved, or not, in ways other than posting an unarmed watch with a sign telling the world he has no means to defend himself.
Truly we are down the Rabbit Hole.
All service personnel should be armed...
I totally agree!
The Department of Agriculture has a SWAT Team, and our soldiers are unarmed.
Truly we are down the Rabbit Hole.
The EPA . . . the frappin' EPA, which should only be dealing with issues using paperwork,
has a full-blown stormtrooper brigade complete with body armor.
Gonna take down a seriously law-breaking dry cleaner near you.
All service personell should be armed...
ALL AMERICANS should be armed
there should be NO gunfree zones, these shooting would stop
I don't know when the practice of not carrying arms on base started. I was in Germany 73-74 the only ones armed were the MPs. Base was fenced with 1 way in and out. Armed guards on the gate 24-7.
I don't know when it started either. I think it varies by branch of service. When I joined the Navy in April of 1961 it had already been in effect for a while. When I spent a night at the BOQ at Fort Pickett in 1977 or 1978 the BOQ rules posted on the door said the management requested that personal weapons kept in the room be unloaded. The "gun free zone" appears to be service wide now.
quote:Originally posted by wpage
All service personell should be armed...
ALL AMERICANS should be armed
there should be NO gunfree zones, these shooting would stop
Just don't get caught in the cross-fire like how some police situations become! [;)] Learn how to be cool and aim at the target!
serf
If a man (or woman) can't be trusted with a loaded weapon, he shouldn't be in the military in the first place.
Amen brother!