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17
Soldier reports Army wants to register his private firearms
March 17, 2009 | Tagged anti-Second Amendment, Culture War, gun control, Military gun control | 4 Comments
The following is not legal advice. Mr. Schreiner and I are former army officers and concerned citizens, not attorneys.
In an alert from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, a U.S. Army infantry soldier reported that he has been required to list by “make, model, caliber, and serial number” all the firearms that he possesses. This individual indicated that he lives “off post” (not on the military reservation.) He was also ordered to list the location of the firearms and to provide information on any concealed carry permits in his possession. (Read through the comments to the documents.)
If this information provided by the soldier is correct, it would appear to be a gross violation of his rights as an American Citizen. While the military establishment can certainly regulate firearms by service members on military reservations, it seems invasive and unconstitutional for them to pry into soldiers’ private ownership of firearms.
The service member reported that he never takes his guns onto Fort Campbell. He questions the purpose of this order. I would ask, is this a prelude to the banning and/or confiscation of firearms privately owned by military personnel?
Steve Schreiner of the Firearms Coalition of Colorado said in a telephone interview that he has been involved in fighting previous infringements of this kind. Although not an attorney, he cautioned military members about taking firearms onto military reservations, where they are indeed subject to government registration.
I would strongly recommend that any service member seek immediate, competent legal counsel, if confronted with the situation faced by the soldier at Fort Campbell. The NRA has a legal department that would most certainly be interested in learning of other incidents. Is this an isolated occurrence, or a symptom of a larger problem? If the Obama Military Establishment intends to regulate or ban the private possession of arms by soldiers, what can we expect from them regarding the civilian population and the Second Amendment?
Def Mech
Comments
4 Comments so far
Hopefully; this is just reaction by a commander that has lost its ability to rationalize the impact of his order. No shortage of “YES SIR” men in the military, who follow orders that are far above their ability to interpret the impact of their action. The “zero defects” aka “one mistake and you’re gone,” therefor you follow orders blindly. The “obey the orders of the officers above them, may out weight the “protect and defend the constitution” part of the oath.
This was a mistaken memorandum for record by one company commander at Ft. Campbell. It was in reaction to a slew of gun accidents involving soldiers assigned to Campbell. The order was revoked at once.
Though the LTC’s comment above is correct for this specific incident it is not an isolated event. I am a captain in the Army and stationed at Ft. Hood. I was just ordered yesterday to report this same information as was everyone in my battalion, and I believe, my brigade. This does seem to be in response to some firearm events, but I have other fellow captain friends on other posts who have been ordered to report the same. There is widespread disbedience of this order as people with NRA stickers who brag about the number of weapons they have report “none” on this report.
I don’t blame Obama for his inappropriate “shout out” or using the shooting to advance his political agenda. Or going to Camp David instead of Fort Hood… I blame the Amercan people who voted him into office and giving him the power to do so.