Posted on 07/21/2015 10:42:54 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
Gov. Scott Walker has issued an executive order allowing Wisconsin National Guard members to carry weapons while they are on duty.
The move comes less than a week after a gunman in Chattanooga, Tennessee, opened fire on a military recruiting center, then drove to a Navy operations support center and launched a second attack, killing four Marines and a sailor.
"Safety must be our top priority, especially in light of the horrific attack in Chattanooga," Walker said in a written statement. "Allowing our National Guard members to carry weapons while on duty gives them the tools they need to serve and protect our citizens, as well as themselves. I am also directing Adjutant General Donald Dunbar to evaluate longer-term plans to ensure the safety of our service members."
Walker joins governors in several other states, including Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas, in calling for National Guard members to be armed.
The Wisconsin Army National Guard is made up of about 7,700 soldiers.
Walker's executive order calls on arming "certain Wisconsin National Guard personnel as reasonably necessary to preserve the lives, property, and security of themselves and other persons subject to the threat of an attack" like last week's shooting.
It did not specifically say which — or how many — National Guard members in the state would be armed as a result of the order.
John Goheen, a spokesman for The National Guard Association of the United States, said that "certainly" not all National Guard members would be armed, adding that he didn't know whether any guard members have been armed yet.
The hope is that the move will prevent a similar attack.
(Excerpt) Read more at jsonline.com ...
Walker orders some members of the Wisconsin Army National Guard to be armed by executive order.
FReep mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin interest ping list.
ø freaking out.
Alabama did so yesterday. In addition, volunteers in Huntsville are now manning military recruitment centers with an armed presence.
Would it be legal for governors to send National Guard to protect recruiting stations and other unarmed military?
So the Guard is armed and the Army and Marines are not.
I do not believe that would be a good idea. It would negatively impact recruiting efforts and send the wrong message to the public. My suggestion would be to arm the SNCOIC, which every RS has. This individual is typically not a canvasing recruiter and is on-site the majority of the time. Further, having a senior NCO or SNCO armed at random would benefit the overall security as any potential shooter would not know how many armed uniforms would be on-site. Canvasing recruiters could carry (secured) weapons in their POVs as they visit residences and schools.
This is of course the common sense move....you make yourself a "hard target". I'm glad the Governor is not waiting for action from the White House.
Mopp4, USAF Retired - E7
Great question!
I don't know the answer. But, I could imagine that the NG could be told to secure and patrol the general area where the stations are located, even if posting them right at the recruiting area was somehow forbidden.
Federal recruiting centers are federal proper so national guard troops, unless they are federalized, would not be allowed to carry inside a federal center. If their center was on federal property, they couldn’t even bring a weapon onto the federal grounds so they would have no means to protect themselves driving to and from work.
Trump is taking a lot of the oxygen out of the room but Scott is doing and saying a lot of good things. Trump and Walker and Cruz. The rest? GET LOST.
Since the army has rejected arming soldiers at recruiting centers, I wonder if a governor could station armed National Guardsmen, still under state control, in those federal centers as guards for the soldiers?
Am I on your Ping list? If not please add me. We gotta make him the GOP nominee
Yes, I added you this morning.
Yup. Maybe the DoD will get a clue and allow our military to be armed on and off base.
Sorry, forcive habit.
SNCOIC = Staff Non-Commissioned Officer In Charge
RS = Recruiting Station
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