Indiana, Florida, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana to arm Guardsmen in wake of Chattanooga shootings

Posted 2015-07-20 14:21 by Grunt Report with 0 comments

Governors in Indiana, Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma have ordered National Guardsmen to be armed. Tennessee, where five servicemembers were killed Thursday in a brutal attack on military facilities, has yet to take any action, but pressure is building for officials to do more to protect members of the military from acts of terrorism.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is allowing the Indiana National Guard to have its personnel be armed at all recruiting offices and state military facilities.

Pence issued his executive order Saturday, saying he won’t let Guardsmen be unable to defend themselves and others at facilities in the state.

The governor’s order also directs the state adjutant general to review ways to improve security at all Indiana National Guard facilities and recruiting offices.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin is also authorizing his state’s adjutant general to arm full-time Oklahoma National Guardsmen at military facilities.

Fallin issued an executive order on Friday granting Maj. Gen. Robbie Asher the authority to arm National Guard soldiers and airmen with whatever weaponry he deems necessary to adequately provide for their safety and security.

Fallin spokesman Alex Weintz says without the state authority, National Guardsmen revert to federal policies, which call for them to be unarmed.

Fallin issued a separate executive order late Friday that calls for all American and Oklahoma flags on state property be flown at half-staff through Monday in honor of the four Marines killed at a military facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says he, too, has authorized the adjutant general of the Texas National Guard to arm Guardsmen at military facilities across Texas.

“After the recent shooting in Chattanooga, it has become clear that our military personnel must have the ability to defend themselves against these type of attacks on our own soil,” Abbot said. “Arming the National Guard at these bases will not only serve as a deterrent to anyone wishing to do harm to our service men and women, but will enable them to protect those living and working on the base.”

Florida Gov. Rick Scott is ordering National Guard recruiters at six storefront locations to relocated to their nearest armory.

Scott announced the order Saturday. He wants a review of security at the Guard recruitment centers, possibly installing bullet-proof glass at the storefronts or video surveillance equipment.

Republican presidential candidates Jeb Bush, Scott Walker and Donald Trump also called for an end to a ban on service members carrying guns in military recruiting offices.

On Friday, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson authorized Arkansas National Guard Adjutant General Mark Berry to arm full-time military personnel.

In Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal, another presidential candidate, issued an executive order authorizing the state’s National Guard adjutant general to arm personnel at Guard facilities to provide protection.

In his proclamation, Jindal says the adjutant general should “identify and arm certain Guard personnel currently on state active duty … as reasonably necessary to preserve the lives, property, and security of themselves and other persons subject to threat of an attack as occurred this week in Chattanooga, Tennessee.”

The ban at U.S. military recruiting and reserve centers became an issue after a man killed four Marines and wounded a sailor and another Marine on Thursday at a pair of military facilities in Chattanooga.

“It seems to me that if you have military bases or recruiting offices, these are symbols of American might, they’re targets,” Bush said after a town hall-style event in Carson City, Nevada.

“This is how you garner attention. You go to places where there’s vulnerability, and it’s a very powerful symbolic attack on our country,” said Bush, a former governor of Florida.

Walker, Wisconsin’s governor, linked threats at home and abroad to the need to drop the ban.

“I think with ISIS now and the threats that we have not only abroad, but domestically, when our military in particular is potentially a target, we need to make sure that in places like this, a recruiting facility, they’re able to be armed so our heroes are protected,” Walker said.

Attending a state GOP fundraiser in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Trump said the Chattanooga shooting showed the need for ending “gun-free zones” at military facilities.

“This sick guy had guns and shot them down,” the businessman and reality TV star told reporters. “These are decorated people. These are people who could have handled guns very easily. They would have had a good chance if they had a gun. … If these Marines yesterday, the four of them, had guns they probably, at least some of them, would be with us today.”

Bush said the attacks should prompt the U.S. to heighten national security and “deal with the rest of the world in a more aggressive way.” He said Congress would need to act for the gun ban at recruitment centers to be repealed.

“If the Marines were armed, I think people would’ve known that, and if they had known it, maybe they wouldn’t have come in,” he said. “Who knows. I just think it ought to be reviewed, for sure.”

On Friday, Gen. Ray Odierno, chief of staff of the Army, said that security at military recruiting and reserve centers would be reviewed but that it was too early to say whether the facilities should have security guards or other increased protection. He told reporters that arming troops in those offices could cause more problems than it might solve.