Lately there have been a number of threads about wishing for a weapon, forgetting to carry, or employer not allowing carry. My big gripe is that military installations do not allow concealed carry nor do they allow procession in your vehicle. I'm retired military and go to the base regularly to use the commissary, exchange or hospital. My real complaint is not that I can't carry while on the base but that I don't have protection on the long haul to and from. Can't have a weapon in the vehicle on the military base proper. Have to leave the CCW at home. Really gripes my butt.

Yup. I have long refused to go on a military reservation - too much of a hassle.

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Now go make God proud...

How does that work for active duty military living in base housing? I remember before my dad retired from the Air Force (1964) we had rifles, shotguns, and handguns in the house both at Elmendorf and at Ellsworth...used to go hunting pheasant in N Dakota while at Ellsworth...

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Bob | KM4DEO
Sport | Glock 22

Active duty personnel living in base housing must have their weapons permitted usually thru base security. Each command can have separate requirements at the whim of the base commander. If you reside in the barracks, most bases that I am familiar with require personal weapons be turned into the armory with varying requirement to draw your own weapon.

There have always been three ways of doing something or approaching a problem. The right way, the wrong way and the military way. It is, what it is.

All privately owned weapons must be registered with each base you go on. When transported on or off base, the weapon and ammo must separately be locked in the trunk of a vehicle or in a locked case with the ammo separately secured in a vehicle without a trunk. Concealed carry is not allowed.

I am retired military and legal to conceal carry in Oregon and Washington. If I want to visit the nearest bases, it is a 400 to 500 mile round trip through two states without a gun unless I go through the registration process at each base with all of the guns I might carry. Then I have to stop, unload, and stow it in the trunk before going in and stop, retrieve, and load after going out. It isn't worth the trouble for me so I very rarely go on a military base.

They trusted me with an M2 50 BMG in Viet Nam when I was eighteen, but don't trust me with a .38 revolver on Fort Lewis at sixty-seven.

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U.S. Navy - U.S. Army, ret

You go on a military base you give up a lot of rights. Worked for 25 years on one and they will even confiscate a camping axe when they see it through one of their searches you agree to when entering a base. Had a guy almost ban from base for having a spent shotgun hull laying on the floor of his truck, no it wasn't DC, no knives, although on the research lab I worked on you could get any type of dangerous materials once you got on base, or anything that could propel a projectile, so much for rubber bands. And what about the shootings on bases or. Now I have been retired for 10 years so some might have changes but I doubt it.

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Psalm 23:4

Risk averse leadership + institutional fear of weapons + disdain for warrior mindset = policy such as that.

Same as:

Perception if increased "liability" + institutional fear of weapons + "the police will get there in time" = No guns signs on business

Same as:

Election minded politicians + institutional fear of weapons +junk science = equipment restrictions (mag limits, bans etc)

It varies between services and installations, and it tightened up a lot after 9/11.

I use the skeet/trap range and private weapons range on one. Go on hunts on one. However, now I cannot stop on post or use any of the base facilities even with an authorized, registered, properly stored private weapon in the car anymore, which I did before 9/11.
I used to use the pistol range on the base 4 miles away, but now am not allowed to enter the base with a private weapon of any kind.

Safe way is to get a copy of the base weapons regulation and read it BEFORE trying to take a weapon of any kind on base.

As to carrying a private concealed loaded weapon on base: forget it. Not authorized, and you can get into real trouble if you do.

When on active duty, as a unit commander, I could authorize issue and carrying of military small arms for military reasons, but IMHO, no (sane) commander is going to authorize carrying private weapons without approval from WAY up the chain of command.

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Science plus Art

Yeah, what are we thinking, having trained military people, the ones who shoot at the enemy for us, carry guns on base.

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Back to back World War Champs.

It's completely annoying and unnecessary to ban ccw by military on an installation. I can carry all around my state, and a bunch of others, but I can't drive to work with a gun. Then I check out an M9 and fly all over the world with it? Great logic.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

So correct, the military bases will not authorized CCW on base. About three years ago, my grandson was graduating from Fort Benning, Ga boot camp and since I was a retired LEO and current Law Enforcement firearms instructor, I called the base military police and informed them I will be attending the graduating ceremonies and will be traveling from Florida to the base and will be in the adjoining camp grounds. I asked them what are the requirements of having the firearm on base and in the camp grounds. They advised me to secure the gun in the trunk in a locable case and have the ammo in a seperate box in the trunk. They advised me that this was my gun and those were the requirements. I traveled from the camp grounds to the base, around the air base and throughout the Fort. At no time did I remove the gun from the vehicle and adhered to their demands. Now, I do not know if the rules have changed since then. But, always call if your not sure to be safe. I did the same for Arlington National Cemetery and the Arlington Police advised me to the same procedure. Hope this helps for future travels in and out of military bases.

Nick

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NRA Instructor\GCA Gunsmith

It just occurred to me while reading this thread that here in Georgia there is a unique situation that I wanted an answer for.

Fort Stewart is down, just outside of Savannah, and it has a state highway that runs right through the middle of it. Now you have to understand that Fort Stewart is thousands and thousands and thousands of acres where military personnel learn to operate tanks. Scattered throughout the woods are various tank obstacle courses and tank firing ranges. These are accessed by the tanks by using dirt trails through the woods that run right along side of Highway 119.

While this is all on Fort Stewart's property, there are no gates that keep the public out. The only gates on Fort Stewart are the ones that control access to the developed areas where the buildings and airfield are. Other than that, you can be driving south on Highway 119 (or North, for that matter), and drive for maybe 20 miles on the Fort Stewart, military reservation without ever going through a gate or even knowing you were on Fort Stewart. If you had not seen the small sign on the side of the road. That said, "entering Fort Stewart.", much like a city limits sign.

I was wondering what applies if you have a carry permit, state law since you are on a state highway or the military's rules governing guns on military installations, that is, that a gun must be locked in a box in the trunk and the ammunition must be locked in a separate box in the trunk.

So I called the MPs office on Fort Stewart and asked. Their 1st response was, "interesting question. I don't know." She went to ask her. Sgt. who gave her a rather dumb answer.

I could hear the conversation easily over the phone, and he told her it would depend on who stopped the car as it was shared, jurisdiction with the state. If the state patrol were to stop me with my gun on my hip in my holster. I would be okay, but if the military police stopped me I would be in trouble because the gun and ammunition were not separated and in separate locked boxes.

I told her I really didn't mean to sound rude, but that that was not an acceptable answer. Either I was breaking the law and or the rules or I wasn't. It was impossible for me to be both legal and illegal. At the same time doing the same thing.

She agreed. She said she would go up the chain of command and get a better answer and call me back. This ought to be interesting.

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Bob | KM4DEO
Sport | Glock 22

When I was a drilling Reservist in the Navy, and after Texas passed the CHL law, carrying a handgun onto the Navy base became an issue. I don't know if it was the Base Commander or someone else but an ideal solution was reached. Get there early, tell the MPs at the gate you were carrying a gun, they waved you aside to not block the gate, another MP drove up, you followed him to the MP's office/HQ, you unloaded your weapon and checked the gun in with them. At the end of the day you picked it up and, obviously, were obliged to leave the base forthwith.

For permanent party/cadre assigned to the base, it was a different issue and I am uncertain how it was handled but I think these folks had to register all of their firearms with the Base Commander or the MPs or both.

Today, the bases that sell firearms in the PXes and BXes also will require you to leave the base forthwith after your purchase.

***GRJ***

Federal law governs all military bases. It overrides state laws whether they are CHL/CCW laws, open carry laws, or castle doctrine-types of laws. There is a general Federal statute forbidding firearms on Federal property/premises except for law enforcement, military personnel required to be armed, or certain exceptions, similar to what I described above.

***GRJ***

This post is about military bases, but not all federal land is prohibited. After Feb 2010, if you can legally possess a firearm outside of a national park, you can possess it in that park. That is, applicable federal, state, and local rules apply.

Federal law prohibits firearms in “federal facilities,” which are generally defined as federally-owned or federally-leased buildings where federal employees work on a regular basis. Buildings that meet this definition will have signs posted at public entrances noting the prohibition on firearms.

You can carry for example in Wind Cave National Park or Badlands National Park with a PA license to carry because of reciprocity with SD, but you cannot carry inside the Visitor's Centers.

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Marty 4513TSW 13-1 642 60-10

Of course, and this is why we had 13 murdered and 33 wounded at Ft. Hood. Government protected gun free predator zone.

Used to go on base and shoot IDPA and rifle matches on Ft. Benning monthly. was generally a non-event even with the truck full of gear. As range members, we would also wander down and shoot during the week as well.