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Sen. Moran Introduces Legislation to Safeguard Service Members' Second Amendment Rights

Bill would address "Gun-Free Zones" and repeal bans on military personnel carrying firearms on American military installations

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) introduced legislation to address “Gun-Free Zones” at American military installations – including military recruitment centers – and restore the Second Amendment rights of service members. The Safeguarding Service Members’ Second Amendment Rights Act, would repeal bans on military personnel carrying firearms on Armed Forces military installations and Department of Defense (DoD) sites and prohibit the president, secretary of defense and secretaries of military departments from enacting similar restrictions or prohibitions in the future.

“The Second Amendment guarantees the ‘right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,’ yet our men and women in uniform are banned from exercising this constitutional right when fulfilling their duties on American soil,” Sen. Moran said. “This infringement on the constitutional rights of our service members has caused American military installations and DoD sites to become increasingly vulnerable to those who wish to do harm. My legislation would repeal the laws, directives and regulations disarming military personnel, and empower our brave service men and women to defend themselves and others from violent attacks and acts of domestic terrorism.”

In the cases of the 2015 U.S. Army and Marine Corps Chattanooga shooting, the 2013 attack at the Washington Navy Yard, the 2010 attack at the Pentagon, the 2009 attack at the U.S. Military Recruiting Office in Little Rock, the 2009 attack on Fort Hood, and the 2008 attack on the Armed Forces Recruiting Center in Times Square, military personnel were prohibited from carrying firearms and unable to respond with force.

U.S. military personnel are trained in the use of firearms, with live-fire qualification and use-of-force training. They are entrusted with firearms and other weapons in the defense of the United States, yet are banned from carrying their firearms in “Gun-Free Zones” on military installations and DoD sites such as military recruitment centers, making these sites vulnerable targets.

Sen. Moran’s Safeguarding Service Members’ Second Amendment Rights Act would repeal laws and regulations disarming military personnel, including:

In addition to these repeals, the legislation would make unenforceable any other law, rule, regulation or executive order that prohibits military personnel from carrying a firearm on a military installation or DoD site within the United States. It also prohibits the secretary of defense and the secretaries of the military departments from reinstating the firearm bans repealed by the Act, and prohibits them from enacting similar restrictions or prohibitions in the future. The president would also be prohibited from taking any executive action or putting forth any rule, executive order or regulation that restricts or prohibits military personnel from carrying firearms.

The Safeguarding Service Members’ Second Amendment Rights formally states that military personnel shall not be prohibited from carrying firearms on military installations or DoD sites and outlines the standing rules of engagement and use of force that military personnel carrying firearms must to adhere to. 

Finally, Sen. Moran’s bill requires the secretary of defense to submit a report to Congress within 90 days of enactment outlining the actions taken to ensure compliance with the law.

Click below to read a fact sheet on the Safeguarding Service Members’ Second Amendment Rights Act.

Click below for the full legislative text.

 

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