Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) on Thursday called on Congress to repeal a ban on military personnel carrying firearms on bases after Wednesday’s shooting at the Fort Hood that left four dead and at least 16 wounded.
“This is the third mass shooting on a military base in five years, and it’s because our trained soldiers aren’t allowed to carry defensive weapons,” Stockman said in a statement. “Anti-gun activists have turned our military bases into soft targets for killers.”
Stockman is pushing a bill he introduced in September, the Safe Military Bases Act, which would lift any prohibitions regarding firearms carried by military personnel.
“Only the most out-of-touch radical would try to disarm soldiers. It’s time to repeal this deadly anti-gun law before it creates another mass killing,” Stockman said. “This is another tragedy created by anti-gun activists. If members of Congress are protected by loaded automatic weapons in the Capitol they have no right to deny that right to trained soldiers on base.”
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) on Wednesday night said he believes that combat-trained soldiers should be allowed to carry guns on military bases.