FORT STEWART, Ga. (AP) — A sergeant shot five soldiers Wednesday at one the country’s largest Army bases before he was quickly tackled by other Fort Stewart troops, forcing a brief lockdown, officials said.
Few details were immediately available about what led to the gunfire, but officials said the shooter was Sgt. Quornelius Radford, 28, who used a personal handgun, not a military firearm.
Radford opened fire where he worked but officials wouldn’t speculate about a motive, authorities said.
The injured soldiers are stable and expected to recover, said Brig Gen. John Lubas. The soldiers who tackled Radford helped ensure his arrest, said Lubas, who commands the 3rd Infantry Division.
“These soldiers, without a doubt, prevented further casualties or wounded,” he said.
This latest act of violence on a U.S. military installation — sites that are supposed to be among the most secure in the country — again raised concerns about safety and security within the armed forces’ own walls.
The Army said it’s investigating the shooting. There were still many unanswered questions, including the scope of the injuries and the shooter’s motive.
More than most soldiers on base aren’t allowed to carry weapons, they weren’t armed. You think they all had guns but resorted to tackling him for fun?
Huh, that’s weird… So it’s safe for everyone to concealed carry in our cities and neighborhoods, but not on military bases?
Weird.
Most soldiers are too young to conceal carry. Also, the federal government doesn’t let anyone conceal carry on it’s properties, with the only exception being outdoor recreation areas like National Forests or Parks.
I’m aware, I think it’s just interesting that this is the case on military bases, which you’d think would have the potential to be the safest places to be in the country, based on the arguments of 2a folks.
More guns means more safe, right? Then why wouldn’t they allow them to carry on base?
Most soldiers are too young. And military personnel technically can conceal carry on base, but it need’s the base commander’s approval. So it is effectively banned. Why? The military as a whole is incredibly (and paradoxically) risk averse. You have to wear your 3-5lb ballistic helmet when you’re driving a tactical vehicle, even if you’re just driving it to a different parking spot 10 feet over because Sergeant Major thinks it looks better over there. Amongst the officers and leadership, it’s a very big CYA culture. If one soldier dies by suicide on base with their personal firearm, well their answer is to just ban guns on base. Don’t need to increase access to mental health providers, that costs money. Now it’s not the DoD’s fault someone got shot, we don’t let them have guns. A Marine rapes someone? We’ll ban all Marines from going off base, and make them all watch a PowerPoint on why rape is bad. Can’t be the DoD’s fault, we told them rape is bad. Oh there was a DUI on base that resulted in a bunch of death’s? Not the DoD’s fault, we said they can’t drink on base. A bunch of soldier’s died in a flash flood, knowing there was an imminent storm on this area known for flash floods? Oh that can’t be the DoD’s fault for making them train anyway, the now dead sergeant should have checked the base’s weather page that nobody knows about. It really doesn’t matter if servicemembers die or get hurt, as long as the officer’s in charged covered their ass.
If you still check out reddit, go check out /r/military, /r/army, or any of their US military focused sub’s. You’ll see complaints of leadership doing this kind of CYA, bare minimum bullshit over and over instead of actually fixing the problems.
TL;DR The head honchos in the US military don’t care whether or not conceal carry on base has the potential to make things safer. They just don’t want to look bad and get a black mark on their file.
Yall keep saying soldiers are too young to carry guns. Then why the fuck are they allowed to be soldiers??
In most states you have to be over 21 if you want to conceal carry a pistol.