As of December 18, Ohio’s National Guard facilities are no longer gun-free.
The change is the result of a “security review and update,” which Governor John Kasich (R) ordered following the July terror attack on unarmed Marines and Sailors in Chattanooga.
According to The Columbus Dispatch, “72 Guard facilities” now allow the carrying of arms for self-defense, and recruitment offices in Columbus, Dayton, Findlay, and Painesville reopened “after having been moved to nearby armories.”
Ohio National Guard members had been unarmed until now due to “concerns about negligent discharges of firearms.” But the Dispatch reports that the combination of the Chattanooga attack, the 2013 assault on military personnel at the DC Navy Yard, and the heinous November 2009 attack on soldiers at Fort Hood changed everything.
The carnage wrought on unarmed military personnel simply outweighed the concerns about an accidental discharge.
On December 18, Major General Mark E. Bartman—adjutant general of Ohio—said, “We must take necessary action to protect our members.”
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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