House Homeland Security Chair Michael McCaul (R-TX) said Wednesday after a mass shooting at his home state’s Fort Hood that he believes soldiers should be able to carry concealed weapons on military bases.
Appearing on Fox News’ “The Kelly File,” McCaul said that combat-trained service members “ought to be able to carry a weapon.”
A soldier opened fire Wednesday on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, killing three people and wounding 16 others before committing suicide. Host Megyn Kelly pointed out that after the first mass shooting at that military base in 2009, a bill stalled in Congress that would have allowed service members with concealed-carry permits to have their weapons on base.
“This is the deal, Megyn. Al-Qaeda and terrorists and jihadists are targeting our military bases. That is a fact,” McCaul said. “And if they are trained in warfare, they can carry weapons in warfare, it seems to me that there is some logic to allowing them to carry weapons on a military base where they can defend themselves.”
Army officials said in a press conference Wednesday night that there were no indications the shooting had ties to terrorism.
McCaul said he believed Congress needed to revisit the policy to protect troops in those circumstances.
“The problem here, and with Fort Hood in the prior Nidal Hasan case, was that they couldn’t defend themselves because they were not allowed to carry weapons,” he said.
