The recent shooting at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola witnessed a Saudi national slaughter 3 sailors.
What was generally ignored in this discussion was how the military facility is essentially a gun-free zone for regular military staff.
The parents and brother of Joshua Watson, one of the victims killed in this attack, are urging the military to allow military members and their families legally carry firearms on base.
On “Fox & Friends”, the parents and brother said that the 23-year-old navy ensign would still be alive if he were able to carry a firearm during his pilot classes.
“These men and women are asked to go defend their country overseas or wherever and my brother was an expert marksman. He was captain of the Rifle Team for the Navy. He was well-qualified to have a firearm and defend himself,” Watson’s brother Adam said on the program Tuesday, December 10, 2019. “And, if we’re going to ask these men and women to stand watch for our country, they need the opportunity to defend themselves. This isn’t the first time this happened, and if we don’t change something, it won’t be the last.”
Three people were killed in this act which the Trump administration has described as “an act of terrorism.”
The murderer was a 21-year-old Saudi national and member of the Royal Saudi Air Force in the United States on a visa for pilot training at the naval base in Pensacola. The gunman proceeded to carry out his heinous act after publishing an anti-America manifesto on social media. Fox News reported that the gunman was also “infuriated” by an instructor calling him “Porn Stash.”
The rules for carrying service firearms depends on the location, but Military.com reported that most prohibit “any personal firearms to be brought on the installation or stored in base housing or barracks,” if individuals are not a part of the law enforcement security at the institution.
President Donald Trump supports relaxing gun regulations at military bases in order to allow more military personnel to carry.
In 2016, the Pentagon started to let base commanders to make these decisions at their own discretion, although the Daily Wire reported that few bases have actually rolled back restrictions.
It truly boggles the mind that even our bravest warriors are stripped of their Second Amendment rights at military facilities.
The Trump administration has been mediocre on Second Amendment related issues so far, but it can make up ground by pushing through policy that liberalizes carry restrictions at military bases across the country.
