U.S. military personnel would be allowed to keep off-duty personal firearms on base under a Pentagon memorandum. Currently, service members must register with base authorities to store a personal firearm at on-base housing. If they live in a barracks, they must register the firearm and keep it in their unit’s armory. (Thomas Dow/U.S. Air Force)
U.S. military personnel would be allowed to keep off-duty personal firearms on base under a memorandum released late Thursday by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
The directive would modify a long-standing Pentagon policy that limits the possession and carrying of firearms on military installations.
Currently, service members must register with base authorities to store a personal firearm at on-base housing. If they live in a barracks, they must register the firearm and keep it in their unit’s armory.
Hegseth’s memo directs base commanders to allow service members to request permission to carry their personal firearms and calls for a “presumption of approval” of requests.
In a video message announcing the policy, Hegseth said the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment should apply to all Americans, including military personnel.
“Uniformed service members are trained at the highest and unwavering standards,” Hegseth said in the video. “These warfighters — entrusted with the safety of our nation — are no less entitled to exercise their God-given right to keep and bear arms than any other American.”
The new policy would apply only to firearms possessed in a nonofficial duty capacity.
Hegseth said the change is in line with a 2016 congressionally approved revision of firearms standards that allowed installation commanders to approve personnel to carry firearms if they were shown to be necessary for personal protection.
Current rules make it difficult for service members to have personal firearms on base, even when allowed under state laws where installations are located. Commanders could approve requests, but approvals were uncommon and restrictive.
Hegseth pointed to incidents of on-base shootings, including at Holloman Air Force Base, Naval Air Station Pensacola and Fort Stewart, where service members with personal firearms might have been able to end violent situations.
The new policy would not allow for concealed carry inside installation buildings.
