Pete Hegseth to allow troops to carry personal weapons onto military bases
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Thursday that service members will now be allowed to carry personal firearms on military bases, citing both the Second Amendment and a series of recent shootings at installations nationwide.
In a statement shared on X, Hegseth explained that he is issuing a memo directing base commanders to approve requests from troops to bring privately owned weapons onto posts, operating under the assumption that these firearms are needed for personal protection. Any denial of such a request must be provided in writing with a detailed explanation.
Hegseth emphasized that, until now, military bases functioned as largely gun-free zones. “Unless you were in training or a military police officer, you could not bring a personal firearm for your own safety,” he said. Questions about access to weapons on bases often arise after incidents of violence at military installations.
Past shootings on military property have ranged from isolated conflicts between service members to mass casualty events. Among the most notable was the 2009 attack at Fort Hood, Texas, where an Army psychiatrist killed 13 people. Hegseth referenced several incidents in his announcement, including a shooting at Fort Stewart, Georgia, last year that injured five soldiers. In that case, an Army sergeant used his personal handgun before being subdued and arrested by other service members.
“In these moments, every minute matters,” Hegseth said. “Our troops have the courage and training to make those precious minutes count.”
Current Department of Defense rules restrict service members from carrying personal firearms on base without approval from a senior commander, with strict protocols for storage and use. Soldiers typically must check their weapons in and out of secure storage to access on-base shooting ranges or hunting areas, and all firearms must be returned promptly after use. Outside of these exceptions, military police are generally the only armed personnel, with service weapons typically carried only during training, and often unloaded.
Tanya Schardt, senior counsel for the gun violence prevention group Brady, criticized the move, noting that military leadership has historically opposed loosening these rules. “Our military installations are among the most guarded properties in the world—they’ve never truly been ‘gun-free zones,’” she said. Schardt added that if violent incidents are a concern, the Secretary of Defense should explain to the public how these threats are being addressed.
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