Let's talk about Hegseth wanting guns and removing fences on military bases.... - Belle of the Ranch

[TexasTowelie]

Well, howdy there Internet people. It's Belle again. So, today we're going to talk about Hegseth wanting guns on military bases.

We have a huge Chesterton's fence moment in the making. Secretary of Defense Hegseth has decided to allow soldiers to carry private weapons while on base. A quick reminder, the idea behind Chesterton's fence is that you shouldn't take a fence down unless you know why it was put up.

In a social media post, Hegseth said, "The memo I'm signing today directs installation commanders to allow requests for personal protection to carry a privately-owned firearm with the presumption that it is necessary for personal protection. The presumption means that commanders have to have a good reason to deny the request." He added, quote, "If a request is for some reason denied, the reason for that denial will be in writing and will explain in detail the basis for that." He of course added that troops have the presumption of exercising their Second Amendment rights on base.

At first, the idea of letting soldiers possess a private firearm seems like it would be normal. So, you have to ask why there's been a long-standing policy against it.

Carrying private firearms has been banned on military installations since President George HW Bush issued the directive in the early 1990s. Even prior to that, there were a lot of regulations that varied from branch to branch and base to base. But there were some widespread prohibitions like not allowing soldiers in the barracks to have a firearm in their room. Why? Because the barracks can be an unruly place and younger soldiers make mistakes.

I'm going to drop a link to what amounts to a Marine Corps after school special below. It details that E1 to E3 can have no more than a six-pack in their room. E4 to E5s can have no more than a 12-pack. If you have to have regulations like this, maybe the environment isn't one you want to add a bunch of firearms to.

If you want to know how far back in American history the prohibitions against soldiers having ready access to weapons goes, the answer is since the beginning because I'm sure somebody will want to chime in and talk about how it's the woke military or what our founders would do. I'll give you a quote from General orders put out by George Washington on December 26th, 1777.

He said, "That no non-commissioned officer or soldier have with him arms of any kind unless he is on duty." This isn't new.

The military also has a domestic violence issue. In 2022, a report documented 8,307 incidents. 14 people died from violent incidents. Five of those had previously reported the situation. That year, the DV rate among spouses in the military was 11 per 1,000. The civilian US rate for a broader category, including current and former intimate partners was still half of that.

Then you have the problem with young soldiers not exercising the care that maybe they should. Jackson barracks in Louisiana had an accidental shooting last month. A soldier was arrested. The month before, a soldier left their issue weapon in a bathroom on Bourbon Street.

There was the recent high-profile incident involving a SIG pistol, which an investigation reportedly later discovered the M18 pistol was pulled from its holster and aimed at the chest of another airman as a joke before it discharged.

The list of incidents goes on and on. And that's with prohibitions in place. I think we'll end up doing more daily push-ups, too. As long as weekend briefings still include don't add to the population, don't subtract from the population. Stay out of the hospital, the newspaper, and jail. This Chesterton's fence should probably stay up.

Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.