United States – -(AmmoLand.com)- While all sorts of bad ideas are being reintroduced, good bills are also coming back in the 117th Congress. One of those is the Protect Our Military Families’ 2nd Amendment Rights Act – legislation intended to correct a serious and potentially deadly inequity in current laws, one that falls particularly hard on women.
The current version of this bill, HR 1013, was introduced by Representative Gregory Murphy (R-NC). It was introduced in the last Congress by Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD). Under current law, only military personnel are covered and only in the state where the post they are assigned to is located in. According to Pew Research, in 2017, women were 16 percent of the active-duty military.
Some simple math means that 84 percent are men, and you can assume that in four out of five military marriages, it’s safe to assume that the military spouse is a woman. Now, a threat against a military base was recently in the news. Having military spouses unable to purchase a firearm out of their home state is a recipe for tragedy.
Furthermore, in a number of cases, like with Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, Fort Campbell in Kentucky (and Tennessee), or even Fairchild Air Force base in Washington, some people may be residing in a neighboring state, creating a whole new complication for those who wish to exercise their Second Amendment rights. HR 1013 fixes this by stating that a member of the military or their spouse will be considered to be a resident of the state they are a legal resident of, the state the post the service member is assigned to is in, and the state where they reside (if different).
For instance, if a service member from Texas is assigned to Andrews Air Force Base, but they live in Alexandria, Virginia (just across the Potomac River), they and their spouse will be considered residents of Maryland, Virginia, and Texas for the purposes of a legal purchase from an FFL. Or a private sale, for that matter.
Now, even a bill that helps military spouses and service members will draw opposition from anti-Second Amendment extremists. Still, Second Amendment supporters should contact their Representative and Senators to politely urge passage of this bill. And as always, they should support the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action and Political Victory Fund to ensure that the current anti-Second Amendment regimes in the House, Senate, and White House are defeated at the ballot box as soon as possible.
About Harold Hutchison
Writer Harold Hutchison has more than a dozen years of experience covering military affairs, international events, U.S. politics and Second Amendment issues. Harold was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national websites.
should be military and their family ,have full rights ,as everyone should, regardless of state or territorial law, for purchase only military id need be given, it also acts as a defacto ccw in all us controlled areas. can you imagine newyak they would go nuts comifornia too
Depending on what base you are stationed at, the PX more than likely sells firearms.
“A 2016 Pentagon rule allows base commanders to permit troops to apply to concealed carry personal weapons on base. Check with your local base for information on their use of that policy. ”
https://www.military.com/pcs/can-you-carry-gun-military-base.html#:~:text=A%202016%20Pentagon%20rule%20allows,open%20carry%20guns%20on%20base.
From the DCMA Manual sub-linked we have this: “c. The arming of DCMA personnel in federally owned or controlled facilities/spaces is prohibited unless the DCMA arming authority specifically determines, after consultation with the DCMA Office of General Counsel and in accordance with applicable DoD policy, that an appropriate exception under Section 930(d) of Title 18, United States Code (U.S.C.) applies.”. 930(d) paragraph 3 always applies. It does not say in the law that you can pick and choose. The 2nd Amendment always applies. The two coupled together always apply. But, as long as the Citizens of this country sit back… Read more »
Not in CONUS as I understand it.
What is missed in all of this is one simple fact. If you are a resident of a gun friendly state and on active duty and you are ordered in to a progressive utopia like Kalifornia or NY you become a felon by federal action if you own firearms and accessories that are legal in your home state but illegal in your new duty station. Over the years I had to ‘hide’ the fact that I owned firearms and accessories that were legal for me to own as a resident of Oregon when the feds ordered me to NY, MA… Read more »
2nd Amendment. We need to use it.
HLB
This is great news for military families! However, it makes too much sense & will never pass.
I owned personal firearms in the late 70’s when I was in the Marines, at Camp Pendleton, California.
In 1971/72, I owned (and legally conceal-carried!) a personal handgun at Fort McPherson, in Atlanta…