Seems PX gun sales are being scrutinized
Gun sales in the PX are drawing attention from suicide prevention folks, according to the the Military Times. Example, a young Marine named Muhlstadt:
But the doctor and Marine Corps didn’t know Muhlstadt had a gun he had bought weeks before at the Marine Corps Exchange store, or MCX, at Twentynine Palms. He had hidden it, like many Marines, in his barracks instead of checking the weapon into the armory as required.
Muhlstadt used the gun to take his own life on Nov. 19, two days after his checkup with the doctor. That day, he had gone shopping, even buying a trigger lock with plans of hiding the gun with a friend while out of town. To his mother, his death seemed extremely impulsive — only possible because of her son’s ready access to a firearm — and pointed to a glaring loophole for those at risk of suicide.
The problem, according to the article, is that at base exchanges across the country guns can be purchased by service members – 113,000 of them last year. Not everyone in the barracks is doing the right thing by signing said weapons into the company arms room as required. Since most suicides are called out as spur-of-the-moment decisions, and so far 3400 serrvice members have killed themselves since 2015, scrutiny is being placed on those pesky gun sales. Now, I’m a show-me-the-numbers kind of guy. With 72 suicides thus far in 2022, let’s say by year end that will double to 140-150. When I look at 113,200 gun sales…I get around 1% being a problem. 3400 in the last 7.5 years is an average of 340 a year, which could indicate more like a 2% problem. And there is no further breakdown of the numbers to show better data.
I like to tread carefully around suicides. Like most, I have had friends take the fast exit and one at least still haunts me… but it sure seems they are demonizing a very few sales (and let’s not forget that the ones not checking their POWs into the arms room if they reside in barracks are already breaking the rules) and I’m not sure there isn’t a tempest brewing inthe teapot.
Category: Dumbass Bullshit, Guns, None
Um no. You are assuming, poorly, that 100% of suicides are from firearms purchased at the PX. This in no way is close to reality.
You are missing the point. Exploit the dead sevicepeeps to achieve an unrelated Proggy objective.
If the point is that no matter what gun laws you have in place they don’t work then they don’t really need to highlight that with PX sales. Soldiers living in the barracks have the most onerous gun laws in the the US.
Left/libtard nirvana.
LOL at the requirement to register or store firearms in the arms room.
In 23 years of service my privately owned firearms never, ever, saw the inside of the company arms room. This includes the 10+ years I was living in the barracks.
Now to be fair, I never kept my guns in my barracks room either. Here’s what I did: When I PCS’d to a new duty station, my first stop – even before I signed in – was to the local storage unit where I would sign a contract on a small, 5 x 10′ storage unit. Firearms and ammo went into a secured storage unit that I could access when I wanted them. I also kept camping gear and other crap I didn’t want to have to keep in my barracks room in there.
When I went overseas my firearms were put in custody of a family member (usually my brother.)
But the whole “you must register your firearms on post and keep them in the arms room” thing was a rule that was honored more in the breach than in the observance. 😉
Woah, its almost like gun laws don’t work.
Barracks arms room:
Way back when SGT D lived in the barracks, any privately owned firearms that I may or may not have owned went into a storage locker at our local gunstore. My CO tried to hem a few of us up, saying our weapons HAD to be registeredand in the arms room, even went so far (against the advice of the 1SG) to call the Provost Marshal for a ruling. Their ruling? As long as the weapons didn’t come on-post, no fucks are given.
No one except the military should have access to firearms.
3 of you downvoted sarcasm?
Only 3? Must try harder.
Of the current number of suicides how many involve firearms?
I haven’t seen hard numbers since I was on AD but it is a lot. Those were FOUO or classified but the numbers of people I served with over the years that checked themselves out:
2x Service Weapon
2X Hanging
1X OD
1X Drove motorcycle off cliff
4X Personally Owned firearm
That is over a 24 year career.
Of those the 2 that hung themselves, the OD and two of the POW did not live in barracks, all the rest did.
“1X Drove motorcycle off cliff”
That’s a tough one to wrap your head around.
Evil Knievel comes to mind.
Blue Oyster Cult in the background.
The mentally tortured person ends their pain and creates a lifetime of pain for their family. Like others here, I have had friends that checked themselves out. And not a single one gave any indication at all before doing so. And they all had, outwardly, every thing going for them. Sad.
In this case I think that the mother is just grasping at anything she can to blame for this tragedy except the one who pulled the trigger. If her son had not of bought the weapon at the PX, he’d of bought it somewhere else. Laying the groundwork for a civil suit? The military is a reflection of our society as a whole ie, you have the same % of the good, the bad, and the ugly. And the same % of actions.
It as if they think that service members can ONLY buy guns from the PX / BX. I suppose they think those same folks do not have the ability to go off base and buy whatever they want then take their purchase onto the base into barracks / housing. When we wintered at a base while RVing full time I perused the PX gun section. I bought a few accessories and targets but their prices were largely higher than what I could get off base for a gun. For the most part they charged full MSRP and the same gun was available off base at a discount. I still applauded the option for Military members and enjoyed “window shopping” there.
I never knew (or maybe they didn’t offer?) gun sales at US exchanges. Overseas, the Rod & Gun was a lifesaver. And full retail was not a bad idea when something you wanted may be 100% over retail at civilian stores. Right after its introduction, a Redhawk (MSRP $329) sold for $6-700 retail. The Rod and Bottle had one briefly in the case at MSRP. Briefly, till my wife saw it and said “anything to shut you up about it!”
The only place I ever was stationed that had a decent selection of firearms was at Bragg (big surprise, huh?) Even then, they couldn’t compete with the plethora of gun shops in the Fayette-Nam area.
I still remember when a Python at the PX was $ 135. Always regretted not buying it. But that was a month’s pay back then.
Current E-5 over 4 years basic pay is $3058 and I’ll bet you could find a Python for less than that. 😉
Source: 2022 Military Pay Chart 2.7% (All Pay Grades) (navycs.com)
When I was stationed at Rhein Main (88-92), we picked up two firearms. I know and understand that things overseas are different. But they notified my unit that I purchased firearms and had to have permission to store them in our house.
Still have the forms, along with the ATF import form.
AE Form 190-6C-R (Notification Of Firearm(s) Purchase).
AE Form 190-6A (Firearms Retention Authorization).
Stateside I know the USAF requires you to register your weapons if you live on base, and in instances ot living in the barracks, domestic call at your residence, etc require them to be stored in the base armory.
If firearm storage is an issue with barrack dwellers, etc maybe they need to notify the Chain of Command when firearms are purchased, like they do overseas. Then there are no surprises that Military Member Snuffy has a personal weapon.