I know most of the thoughts are in the right place, however on a practical level concealed carry or open carry for that matter is very impractical during the work day on a military base. I can only speak for the combat arms side of the job. There is way too much training where mixing real bullets and blanks/dry fire training can prove very hazardous. There are also many aviation jobs that even in Afghanistan and Iraq the mechanic's weapons are in racks across the hanger do to danger to the aircraft and or mechanic. In all honesty there are people who are in the military who need to have direct supervision every time they have a loaded weapon. If you look at the number of negligent discharges and the injuries associated with them in Iraq and Afghanistan you will see that there are some issues with everyone being armed all the time.
The everyone should be required to carry argument is just a knee jerk and as bad as the ban all guns argument. The comparison of the modern military to the Continental Army is apples to fire engines on how different things are. The practical solution to this is go back to requiring the Duty NCO (for Marine types), CQ (for Army types) and the OOD (Officer of the Day) to carry 24/7 while on duty. This gives many more armed personnel available to respond in the event they are needed. Through out my time in the Marine Corps there were varying levels of this going on however if it was mandatory through out the military it would drastically improve or readiness and response time to these events.
Now the Navy is a whole other discussion. Just so people who have not been on a ship before will understand. In Naval Station San Diego in order to get on a ship you have to go through 2-4 layers of security from the gate guards, to the guards at the end of the pier and then the OOD before you are actually on the ship. If you are on a small ship there is a chance you will have to cross another ship to get to yours. All of these ships have the force protection gear needed to keep people from carrying weapons onto the ship. They just need to use them. There is not one reason to have a personal weapon on a ship.
As for concealed/open carry off duty on a military base I am pretty indifferent about that. There would have to be some restricted areas, however those would be areas already under armed guard or access controlled type areas. If you really look at military bases they have some very low violent and property crime numbers compared to the areas surrounding the base. Is there violent crime and property crime on military bases? Yes however compared to the cities just off base the rate is very low.
http://terminallance.com/2012/01/23/terminal-lance-174-breaking-news/
The everyone should be required to carry argument is just a knee jerk and as bad as the ban all guns argument. The comparison of the modern military to the Continental Army is apples to fire engines on how different things are. The practical solution to this is go back to requiring the Duty NCO (for Marine types), CQ (for Army types) and the OOD (Officer of the Day) to carry 24/7 while on duty. This gives many more armed personnel available to respond in the event they are needed. Through out my time in the Marine Corps there were varying levels of this going on however if it was mandatory through out the military it would drastically improve or readiness and response time to these events.
Now the Navy is a whole other discussion. Just so people who have not been on a ship before will understand. In Naval Station San Diego in order to get on a ship you have to go through 2-4 layers of security from the gate guards, to the guards at the end of the pier and then the OOD before you are actually on the ship. If you are on a small ship there is a chance you will have to cross another ship to get to yours. All of these ships have the force protection gear needed to keep people from carrying weapons onto the ship. They just need to use them. There is not one reason to have a personal weapon on a ship.
As for concealed/open carry off duty on a military base I am pretty indifferent about that. There would have to be some restricted areas, however those would be areas already under armed guard or access controlled type areas. If you really look at military bases they have some very low violent and property crime numbers compared to the areas surrounding the base. Is there violent crime and property crime on military bases? Yes however compared to the cities just off base the rate is very low.
http://terminallance.com/2012/01/23/terminal-lance-174-breaking-news/
