Posted on 09/17/2013 4:50:48 PM PDT by raptor22
See the editorial below, this has been all Clinton’s doing. Until the military quits the role of welfare payments generator for America’s minorities (yes that is what it has become in case you haven’t noticed), and until the U.S. military has returned to it the right of military personnel to be armed while on base, these kinds of incidents will continue to occur and innocents will lose their lives. And while the American people are at it, they may as well reinstate some logical and non-suicidal rules of engagement for our troops. I know—I’m dreaming, right?
EDITORIAL: End Clinton-era military base gun ban
The Washington Times
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Time after time, public murder sprees occur in gun-free zones - public places where citizens are not legally able to carry guns. The list is long, including massacres at Virginia Tech and Columbine High School along with many less deadly attacks. Last weeks slaughter at Fort Hood Army base in Texas was no different - except that one man bears responsibility for the ugly reality that the men and women charged with defending America were deliberately left defenseless when a terrorist opened fire.
Among President Clintons first acts upon taking office in 1993 was to disarm U.S. soldiers on military bases. In March 1993, the Army imposed regulations forbidding military personnel from carrying their personal firearms and making it almost impossible for commanders to issue firearms to soldiers in the U.S. for personal protection. For the most part, only military police regularly carry firearms on base, and their presence is stretched thin by high demand for MPs in war zones.
Because of Mr. Clinton, terrorists would face more return fire if they attacked a Texas Wal-Mart than the gunman faced at Fort Hood, home of the heavily armed and feared 1st Cavalry Division. Thats why a civilian policewoman from off base was the one whose marksmanship ended Maj. Nidal Malik Hasans rampage.
Everyone wants to keep people safe - and no one denies Mr. Clintons good intentions. The problem is that law-abiding good citizens, not criminals, are the ones who obey those laws. Bans end up disarming potential victims and not criminals. Rather than making places safe for victims, we unintentionally make them safe for the criminal - or in this case, the terrorist.
The wife of one of the soldiers shot at Fort Hood understands all too well. In an interview on CNN Monday night, Anchor John Roberts asked Mandy Foster how she felt about her husbands upcoming deployment to Afghanistan. Ms. Foster responded: At least hes safe there and he can fire back, right?
It is hard to believe that we dont trust soldiers with guns on an Army base when we trust these very same men in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mr. Clintons deadly rules even disarmed officers, the most trusted members of the military charged with leading enlisted soldiers in combat. Six of the dead and wounded had commissions.
Most people understand that guns deter criminals. Research also shows that the presence of more guns limits the damage mass murderers can unleash. A major factor in determining how many people are harmed by these killers is the time that elapses between the launch of an attack and when someone - soldier, civilian or law enforcement - arrives on the scene with a gun to end the attack. All the public shootings in the United States in which more than three people have been killed have occurred in places where concealed handguns have been banned.
Thirteen dead bodies in a Texas morgue are the ultimate fruit of gun-control illogic - in which guns are so feared that government regulation even tries to keep them out of the hands of trained soldiers. With the stroke of a pen, President Obama can end Mr. Clintons folly and allow U.S. soldiers to protect themselves. Because we clearly cannot protect our soldiers from harm, the least we owe them is the right to protect themselves.
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/11/end-clinton-era-military-base-gun-ban/#ixzz2fCX6iTe4
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IBD EDITORIAL PING
Thanks for the diatribe on Clinton and the virtues of being armed, but you completely ignored my experience of the 1960’s when the defacto policy of being disarmed on secured camps happened decades before Clinton issued any directives.
Warning signs should be placed on ‘gun free zones’ so those of us who enjoy living can stay out of them...
This was Department of Defense directive 5210.56, originated 2/25/1992. Prior to that year’s election.
“George HW Bush was just another progressive.”
Nah, Bilderberger/CFR! You know, a “we run the world type.” He was one of Reagan’s few mistakes.
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