Starting in February 1992, with the signing of Department of Defense Directive 5210.56, American military bases have been—on paper, at least—“gun-free” zones. In other words, only “DoD personnel regularly engaged in law-enforcement and security duties” are allowed to carry. Since then, nearly a dozen shooting incidents have occurred at U.S. military bases and installations.
But in an interview with Ammoland, presidential hopeful and NRA Life member Donald Trump vowed that, if elected, he would work to reinstate our troops’ rights, saying “America’s armed forces will be armed.” According to Trump, we “never should have passed a ban on soldiers being able to protect themselves on bases.”
“Our brave soldiers should not be at risk because of policy created by civilian leadership,” he continued.
Trump, who spoke at the 2015 NRA Annual Meetings, has also expressed opposition to so-called “universal” background checks, gun magazine limits, and the revival of the “assault-weapons” ban.
