‘Reach out’ after Fort Hood shooting

Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas) is calling on Congress to re-examine policies that would allow military personnel to be armed while on base in the wake of Wednesday’s shooting at Fort Hood in Texas.

“I believe that if our soldiers could have had their weapons on, that this event may not have occurred,” Williams told the Hill. “This is important dialogue we’re going to have to have and will have in Congress.”
 
{mosads}The gunman, identified as Ivan Lopez, killed three people before turning the gun on himself. Lt. Gen. Mark Milley said Lopez served four months in Iraq in 2011 and was previously evaluated for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Williams suggested to The Hill that Congress isn’t doing enough to reach out to military personnel who have been mentally traumatized during their service.

“We need to begin to reach out to these young men and women,” Williams said. “They are seeing some things at an early age that most of us will never see, and we don’t understand what they see.

“They’re leaving their families, they’re leaving their futures to fight for their country,” he said. “We need to be able to reach out, simply tell them, ‘We love you, we want to help you.’ “