[lcpiper]

Hassan shooting up Ft. Hood is far from the first shooting incident on a Military Base. There have been many before it.

All Military Bases are essentially gun free zones. Only the MPs get to run around armed and they are no more an active presence then regular cops in regular cities. They do the same things, family disturbances, traffic duty, etc. They are the Army's cops and only when deployed to combat zones do their missions change.

As for the rest of the guns, they are locked and guarded always. If they are issued to the troops it's for specific reasons, cleaning, training, etc. But they don't get ammo except under tightly controlled training at a range and in TRADOC Training outfits the Range Cadre used to be armed with live ammo in case some goofball goes nutso and shoots a Drill Sergeant or something. Any soldiers living in Barracks must have personally owned firearms locked up with the rest of the weapons in the arms room and can only get it out with an OK from the CO. Any personally owned firearms kept in government housing is generally treated like anyone who owned firearms off base but there are rules for how the weapons can be transported and why, they can't just drive around with them. And the risk of search while serving active duty is very high and could happen at any time for many reasons so it's not like you can just throw your shooter under the front seat and hope to get away with it for long.

What so many people fail to understand is why Military folks cherish their freedoms so deeply. Sure, part of it is the well known "We have bled for them" reason that everyone hears.

The reason that is bigger for me, and almost never voiced, is that all Military have lived volunteering to give up many of those freedoms that they are protecting. They can't just go where they want, or do what they want, or be with who they want, or say what they want, or have what they want, or live where they want, and the list just goes on and on. You would have to live it to understand it, but that's how it is.

Every service member begins his service by sacrificing his own rights so that he can help protect those of others.