Katie Pavlich: End DOD’s deadly no-gun rules

In December 2014, the FBI released a memo warning military families and uniformed military personnel about potential lone wolf terrorist attacks directed against them inside the United States. 

“The FBI issued a warning Sunday to members of the U.S. military that [the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria] is calling for attacks against them, according to a law enforcement source, saying that ‘overseas based individuals are looking for like-minded individuals in the U.S. to carry out these attacks,’ ” CNN reported at the time. 

{mosads}The Pentagon responded to the warning by saying the threat was “nothing new.” 

In March 2015, ISIS posted a “kill list” of names, photos and addresses belonging to military personnel and their families in the U.S., encouraging Islamic fighters sympathetic to the cause to use the list for attacks.

In fact, the ISIS kill list included specific instructions for “brothers in America” to “kill them wherever you find them.” Those targeted were told to remain vigilant. 

Two months ago, the FBI issued another warning about near-term attacks on military members here at home. Again, they were told to be vigilant.

But remaining “vigilant” without the tools to stop an attack is a useless and deadly suggestion.

After months of being warned about looming attacks against military members on U.S. soil, threats recently came to fruition when Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez opened fire on two military offices in Chattanooga, Tenn. 

The scenes of the aftermath were vivid, but one photo told a story of a thousand words. The image of a “no weapons” sign on the bullet-riddled recruitment center’s entrance was ironically splashed across news outlets everywhere. 

Luckily, nobody there was killed. The worst carnage took place at the Navy and Marine Corps reserve center a few miles away, where the same no-gun policy applied. 

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported Maj. Gen. Paul Brier’s description of the scene, as Marines ran door-to-door rushing people out of harm’s way.

“Twenty Marines and two Navy corpsmen were in the building. Brier said the Marines made it to safety, then some ‘willingly ran back to the fight.’ Meanwhile, Abdulazeez kept on through the building, firing at anyone he encountered.

“After gunning down the final two Marines, Abdulazeez tried to run back into the building and was stopped by Chattanooga police officers. Chattanooga
police officer Dennis Pedigo was wounded in the firefight. Abdulazeez was killed.”

The police officers who stopped Abdulazeez had guns. The Marines and sailors working at the reserve center were unarmed due to Department of Defense policy. 

Authorities haven’t confirmed that Abdulazeez was inspired by ISIS, and we’ll never truly know because he’s dead, but it doesn’t matter. We do know his attack was justified by the same kind of Islamic martyrdom ideology that ISIS and other Islamic terror groups around the world promote. 

Despite knowing the potential for attacks, military leaders, Congress and the president did nothing tangible to allow them to defend themselves, displaying negligence at the highest levels. Military personnel were warned repeatedly for months about attacks but were kept unarmed. 

The bureaucratic response to outrage about unarmed service members under imminent threat has been to tell Americans and military families that we don’t want to over-arm ourselves.

“I think we have to be careful about over-arming ourselves,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno told reporters last week in response to criticism of the military’s gun policy. “We’re always going to be somewhat vulnerable to a lone wolf, or whatever you want to call it, a surprise shooter, because we are out there with the population, and that’s where we have to be.”

Further, Marines have been told to stop wearing their uniforms to avoid attacks, an example of cowardly retreat in the face of the enemy. Marines are trained to run into the fight, not to change their clothes in hopes of being undetected while on duty. 

In 1992, the Department of Defense issued a directive that stripped military service members of their ability to be armed on domestic duty. It was renewed in 2011. 

“It is DoD policy to limit and control the carrying of firearms by DoD military and civilian personnel. The authorization to carry firearms shall be issued only to qualified personnel when there is a reasonable expectation that life or DoD assets will be jeopardized if firearms are not carried,” the directive states.

Since the policy was implemented, more than two decades ago, there have been 20 shootings on military installations across the country that resulted in numerous deaths. 

At what point will the DOD acknowledge that military personnel should be classified as military assets who are at significant risk of losing their lives if they cannot carry firearms for personal defense? 

It’s a tragic and pathetic day in America when Marines have to wait for police to show up and shoot back. 

For Marine Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Sullivan, Staff Sgt. David Wyatt, Lance Cpl. Squire Wells, Sgt. Carson Holmquist and Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith, it was too late.

Pavlich is editor for Townhall.com and a Fox News contributor.