Chattanooga sparks gun push

“The tragic shooting on July 16 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, illustrates the continuing threat to (Department of Defense) personnel in the U.S. homeland posed by homegrown violent extremists”, he wrote, asking for a consolidated set of plans to review by August 21. Police shot and killed Abdulazeez.

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Acknowledging that now serving transgender members of the military have been “hurt” by what he called “an outdated, confusing, inconsistent approach that’s contrary to our value of service and individual merit”, Carter said that the department would “create a working group to study over the next six months the policy and readiness implications of welcoming transgender persons to serve openly”.

Only the Navy has acknowledged arming more troops. That does not include recruiting stations.

In the aftermath of the Chattanooga shootings, Carter ordered Marines to stop wearing their uniforms at recruiting centers, which are especially soft military targets because many are located in shopping centers and other places easily accessible to civilians. It would be premature to speculate about what changes could be implemented, Hawkins said.

A few governors authorized their National Guard units to be armed, moved them to fortified armories or took other steps to increase security. Deputy Secretary Robert Work, speaking about the tight budget at the US Geospatial Intelligence Foundation at the end of June, said Carter’s guidance would help the military services chart out how to free up resources for “higher priority missions such as nuclear, space, cyber, et cetera”.

“Looking at arming personnel doesn’t mean that’s what the services will ultimately decide”, said Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, as quoted by The Associated Press. Troops, in the meantime, must continue to be vigilant and observe personal security measures.

“I’m sure that the service chiefs, as they look at this, will be well aware of the constraints that they face in doing this, and that will be part of their plans”, Davis said.