![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/pete-2.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
By Eve Sampson<\/strong><\/p>\n Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday signed a directive allowing service members to request permission to carry privately owned firearms on military installations while off duty, the Pentagon said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cThe War Department\u2019s uniformed service members are trained at the highest and unwavering standards. These warfighters \u2014 entrusted with the safety of our nation \u2014 are no less entitled to exercise their God-given right to keep and bear arms than any other American,\u201d Hegseth announced in a video posted to social media.<\/p>\n The memorandum instructed installation commanders to consider requests with a \u201cpresumption of approval,\u201d reversing what Hegseth described as a system that made it \u201cvirtually impossible for troops to carry or store personal firearms in accordance with state laws, the Pentagon said in a statement on Thursday.<\/p>\n The policy builds on existing authority under the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, the Pentagon said, and the new guidance directs Pentagon officials to update regulations to formalize the process for approvals.<\/p>\n Hegseth framed the move as a constitutional issue and in response to recent active-shooter situations on military installations. He specifically cited a 2019 attack at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida, where three people were killed and eight others injured; a 2025 shooting that wounded five soldiers at Fort Stewart in Georgia; and a 2026 shooting at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico that killed one person and injured another.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n