Our military installations have been turned into gun-free zones—leaving our service members vulnerable and exposed.
That ends today. pic.twitter.com/IQ204YepZ0
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) April 2, 2026
Military policy on carrying personal firearms just got flipped by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who signed a memo directing military base commanders to allow personnel—“namely, uniformed service members”—to carry privately owned firearms “while in their nonofficial duty capacity on DOW property within the United States.”
Hegseth signed the memo while announcing the new policy on a video posted on “X” on Thursday. In his announcement, which ran just over 2 minutes, 30 seconds, Hegseth noted, “Before today, it was virtually impossible—most people probably don’t know this—for War Department personnel to get permission to carry and store their own personal weapons aligned with the state laws where we operate our installations. Effectively, our bases across the country were gun-free zones, unless you’re training, or unless you’re a military policeman, you couldn’t carry. You couldn’t bring your own firearm for your own personal protection onto post. Well, that’s no longer.”
In a statement obtained by Ammoland News from Kostas Moros, director of Legal Research and Education for the Second Amendment Foundation, he said, “SAF fully supports Secretary Hegseth’s decision to enable our service members to be able to carry personal firearms on military bases, with any denials requiring a written explanation. SAF believes any ‘gun-free zones’ are constitutionally questionable, and also create soft targets that are enticing to criminals and others bent on violence. The fact that military bases, of all places, have been under such restrictions has long been perplexing to us. Serving your country should not require the wholesale abandonment of the Second Amendment right of armed self-defense. It’s excellent to hear that this dangerous policy is finally changing.”
In announcing this change of policy, Hegseth alluded to past tragedies on military bases, including a December 2019 attack at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida which left three men dead and eight other people wounded, and another incident at Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia in August 2025. That incident left five soldiers wounded, and was committed by Sgt. Quornelius Radford, using his own firearm. On March 31, he pleaded guilty to several charges, according to WTOC News. He will face further charges of attempted premeditated murder and unpremeditated murder on June 15.
There was another fatal shooting at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico on March 17, which resulted in one fatality.
Going back further in history, two separate shootings occurred at Fort Hood, Texas, one in 2009 during which 13 people were killed, and the other in 2014, which left four dead. The 2009 shooting was committed by then-Major Nidal Hasan, using his own firearm, as noted by the New York Times. Hasan was convicted and sentenced to death. Following a series of appeals, which stretched over several years, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Hasan’s final petition for a writ of certiorari. Last September, Hegseth said he would seek formal approval from President Donald Trump for the execution to be carried out, according to Wikipedia.
According to a media release from Hegseth’s office, the undersecretary of war for intelligence and security will be responsible for updating the War Department Manual, which lays out physical security measures for the DOW. This update “will authorize permitting officials to review service member requests to carry personally owned firearms.”
In his video, Hegseth states, “If the rejection of an application is necessary, the rejection shall be in writing and explain the objective, clearly describable, and individualized basis for such decision. The review shall be a dispassionate and commonsense application of applicable law and standards.”
Hegseth’s announcement has literally reversed long-standing policy, and he matter-of-factly explained why it makes sense.
“The War Department’s uniformed service members are trained at the highest and unwavering standards,” Hegseth said. “These warfighters — entrusted with the safety of our nation — are no less entitled to exercise their God-given right to keep and bear arms than any other American. Our warfighters defend the right of others to carry. They should be able to carry themselves.”
He subsequently observed, “Not all enemies are foreign, nor are they all outside our borders. Some are domestic.”
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About Dave Workman
Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.
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