Posted on 03/19/2006 8:25:01 PM PST by Graybeard58
A new U.S. Army Alaska policy penned this week forbids soldiers from carrying privately owned concealed weapons in public, despite being stationed in a state with one of the most liberal concealed weapons laws in the country.
The move, officials said, is in response to several incidents involving soldiers and their personal concealed weapons.
"In the last six to eight months, there has been a number of incidents involving soldiers and privately-owned concealed weapons that indicated a need to look at this policy," said Maj. Kirk Gohlke, U.S. Army Alaska public affairs officer.
Gohlke noted the trial of three Fort Wainwright soldiers currently unfolding in court. A jury is deliberating the fate of Lionel Wright, Freddy Walker and Christopher Cox, who are on trial for the August death of Alvin "Snoop" Wilkins. The three soldiers claim self defense in brandishing personal weapons during a confrontation that killed Wilkins.
Gohlke said there have been seven other instances involving U.S. Army Alaska soldiers and personal concealed weapons in Fairbanks and Anchorage although he couldn't comment on specifics.
According to the new policy, "Soldiers who fail to comply are subject to adverse administrative action or punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice or both."
U.S. Army Alaska also prohibits anyone--military or civilian--from having or transporting a concealed weapon at any time on a USARAK installation, a policy that has been in place for some time.
But Alaska law is much less restrictive. Gov. Frank Murkowski in 2003 signed into law a bill that allowed citizens to carry a concealed handgun in public without a permit.
Included in the 2003 law is that local governments cannot change the state gun law to be more open or more restrictive, but the U.S. Army Alaska can enforce policies more restrictive than state law.
Local firearms instructor Joe Nava said there are still benefits of getting a concealed firearm permit, although the state doesn't require it.
Those that acquire a permit are eligible to buy a gun from a dealer without a background check, are allowed to carry a concealed weapon in 29 other states and are entered into the police computing system as a permit holder.
But while Nava encourages permitting, he doesn't agree with the Army's policy. He said it's a right given under the U.S. Constitution and state law for soldiers, like any citizen or resident of the state, to have and carry personal weapons.
"The military is taking away (soldiers') ability to protect themselves off base and that's not right," Nava said.
But Gohlke said the policy is specific only to concealed weapons and does not affect weapons for recreation and hunting.
The policy is meant to create a safer environment for soldiers and communities, not to infringe on personal rights.
"Our interest here is simply to protect the health and welfare of soldiers and promote good order and discipline," Gohlke said. "The intent is not to restrict soldiers' rights."
Staff writer Margaret Friedenauer can be reached at 459-7545 or by e-mail at mfriedenauer@newsminer.com .
Well clearly with this line of thinking they need to take the troops private owned vehicles (POV's), Alcohol, cigarettes, ATV's, etc etc from em to keep em safe.......
Who in the hell is the dumbass ticket punching SOB POS that got this crap pulled on his troops ?!??!?!
Station the general pita on some atoll with a 3 kissasses that told him this was a great idea.
Reminds me of this thread this AM:
////////////////////// //////////////////////////////
At this command, we have written in large, black letters: DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) on the back of our security badges." Maj (CENTCOM)
"'Leaning forward' is really just the first phase of 'falling on your face.'" Marine Col (MARFOREUR)
"I am so far down the food chain that I've got plankton bites on my butt."
"None of us is as dumb as all of us." Excerpted from a brief (EUCOM)
"We're from the nuke shop, sir. We're the crazy aunt in the closet that nobody likes to talk about ..." Lt Col (EUCOM) in briefings
"Things are looking up for us here. In fact, Papua-New Guinea is thinking of offering two platoons: one of Infantry (headhunters) and one of engineers (hut builders). They want to eat any Iraqis they kill. We've got no issues with that, but State is being anal about it." LTC (JS) on OIF coalition-building.
"The chance of success in these talks is the same as the number of "R's" in 'fat chance...'" GS-15 (SHAPE)
"His knowledge on that topic is only power point deep..." MAJ (JS)
"Ya know, in this Command, if the world were supposed to end tomorrow, it would still happen behind schedule." CWO4 (EUCOM)
"We are condemned men who are chained and will row in place until we rot." LtCol (CENTCOM) on life at his Command
"Right now we're pretty much the ham in a bad ham sandwich..." GO/FO (EUCOM)
"If we wait until the last minute to do it, it'll only take a minute." MAJ(EUCOM)
"The only reason that anything ever gets done is because there are pockets of competence in every command. The key is to find them ... and then exploit the hell out of 'em." CDR (CENTCOM)
"I may be slow, but I do poor work..." MAJ (USAREUR)
"Cynicism is the smoke that rises from the ashes of burned out dreams." Maj (CENTCOM) on the daily thrashings delivered to AOs at his Command.
"WE are the reason that Rumsfeld hates us..." LTC (EUCOM) doing some standard, Army self-flagellation
"Working with Hungary is like watching a bad comedy set on auto repeat..." LCDR (EUCOM)
"I finally figured out that when a Turkish officer tells you, "Its no problem," he means, for him." Maj (EUCOM)
"Never in the history of the US Armed Forces have so many done so much for so few..." MAJ (Task Force Warrior) on the "success" of the Free Iraqi Forces (FIF) Training Program, where 1100 Army troops trained 77 Iraqi exiles at the cost of, well, ...way too much...
"Our days are spent trying to get some poor, unsuspecting third world country to pony up to spending a year in a sweltering desert, full of pissed off Arabs who would rather shave the back of their legs with a cheese grater than submit to foreign occupation by a country for whom they have nothing but contempt." LTC (JS) on the joys of coalition building
"I guess the next thing they'll ask for is 300 US citizens with Hungarian last names to send to Iraq..." MAJ (JS) on the often-frustrating process of building the Iraqi coalition for Phase IV
"Between us girls, would it help to clarify the issue if you knew that Hungary is land-locked?" CDR to MAJ (EUCOM) on why a deployment from Hungary is likely to proceed by air vice sea
"So, what do you wanna do?"..."I dunno, what do YOU wanna do?"..."I dunno, what do YOU wanna do?," etc. -- COL (DIA) describing the way OUSD(P) develops and implements their strategies.
"I'll be right back. I have to go pound my nuts flat..." Lt Col (EUCOM) after being assigned a difficult tasker
"I guess this is the wrong power cord for the computer, huh?" LtCol (EUCOM) after the smoke cleared from plugging his 110V computer into a 220V outlet
"OK, this is too stupid for words." LTC (JS)
"When you get right up to the line that you're not supposed to cross, the only person in front of you will be me!" CDR (CENTCOM) on his view of the value of being politically correct in today's military
"There's nothing wrong with crossing that line a little bit, it's jumping over it buck naked that will probably get you in trouble..." Lt Col (EUCOM) responding to the above
"Never pet a burning dog." LTC (Tennessee National Guard)
"Ah, the joys of Paris: a unique chance to swill warm wine and be mesmerized by the dank ambrosia of unkempt armpits..." LCDR (NAVEUR) [obviously this guy has been to the wrong parts of Paris...]
"'Status quo,' as you know, is Latin for 'the mess we're in...'" Attributed to former President Ronald Reagan
"We are now past the good idea cutoff point..." MAJ (JS) on the fact that somebody always tries to "fine tune" a COA with more "good ideas"
"Nobody ever said you had to be smart to make 0-6." Col (EUCOM)
"I haven't complied with a darn thing and nothing bad has happened to me yet."
"Whatever happened to good old-fashioned military leadership? Just task the first two people you see."
"Accuracy and attention to detail take a certain amount of time."
"I seem to be rapidly approaching the apex of my mediocre career." MAJ (JS)
"Much work remains to be done before we can announce our total failure to make any progress."
"It's not a lot of work unless you have to do it." LTC (EUCOM)
"Creating smoking holes (with bombs) gives our lives meaning and enhances our manliness." LTC (EUCOM) at a CT conference
"Eventually, we have to 'make nice' with the French, although, since I'm new in my job, I have every expectation that I'll be contradicted." DOS rep at a Counter Terrorism Conference
"Everyone should have an equal chance, but not everyone is equal."
"You can get drunk enough to do most anything, but you have to realize going in that there are some things that, once you sober up and realize what you have done, will lead you to either grab a 12-gauge or stay drunk for the rest of your life."
"Once you accept that a dog is a dog, you can't get upset when it barks." Lt Col (USSOCOM)
"That guy just won't take 'yes' for an answer." MAJ (EUCOM)
"Let's just call Lessons Learned what they really are: institutionalized scab picking."
"I can describe what it feels like being a Staff Officer in two words: distilled pain." CDR (NAVEUR)
"When all else fails, simply revel in the absurdity of it all." LCDR (CENTCOM)
"Never attribute to malice that which can be ascribed to sheer stupidity." LTC (CENTCOM) -
Stryker Brigade ping.
They don't trust their soldiers with guns? Seems like the exact same thing if a Highway Patrol supervisor forbade them from driving off duty because they might have an accident.
Only the Air Force is worse. They'd issue uniforms made of reflective belts sewn together, and tie a flashlight to your hand if they thought it would fly.
The 'risk averse' mentality has pretty much reprogrammed the 'big Army'. Only in Special Operations, and to a much lesser extent combat arms, is managed risk embraced or tolerated. The idea of bad press strikes fear so deep into the hearts of officers that there's really no limit to what they'll do to avoid it.
"Not doing anything wrong" isn't the same as "doing things right". One of the hardest lessons we're taking from Iraq is that "not doing anything wrong" is a fine way to bureaucratically cover your ass while victory slips away for want of aggressive, calculated risk taking.
Many Police and Sherrif's departments prohibit concealed carry by off duty officers, even in CCW permit states.
It is the reason that the best generals are fighting the WOT right now, not the clinton clowns that are here in the US.
If that is true it is more than stupid, it is really really, stupid.
That statement is especially true for big city police/sherrif departments in CCW states.
That's pretty much the standard Army-wide. Honestly, there's a lot of folks in the Army I don't trust with a weapon. Thankfully their jobs don't generally require its use.
That's beautiful work on that holster. May i ask who made it?
I was stopped in a tiny "speed trap" town a couple of years ago, and acted as required. The officer then asked, "Sir do you have your weapon with you in your vehicle?"
When I replied in the affirmative, he replied, "Good! It's no da#ned good if you don't have it with you!!"
Texas! Gotta love it here!! (But not, necessarily, the few wide spots in the road that survive on traffic fines...)
You've never been in the service have you? Generally commanders are very selective in who gets duty that requires being armed, routine training at firing ranges and such, excluded. In addition during training, ammunition is carefully controled. Almost all weapons are stored in the arms room at all times and only checked out when required for specific duties.
I laugh whenever a TV show has a soldier shooting someone with his service weapon while on leave. Cannot happen, you cannot take a military weapon on leave.
Some even require it.
Mine is for my Browning Hi-Power and it fits (and releases) PERFECTLY. I liked the Bianci belt slide till I stumbled onto thees guys.
They make some class "A" gun leather.
Gracias, very nice stuff. I feel needy. :-)
Nava is the go-to man on firearms safety. Lives right up the street.
The big incident was in the parking lot of a bar. They have a fair number of firearm incidents there.
Those would be high risk undercover officers. Many off duty police officers in big cities are prohibited from doing this, at least with their service revolvers.
Are there still cops who carry revolvers? My son is required to carry his off duty but it isn't a revolver.
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