The tragedy of Chattanooga and the five marines who died tragically did not represent the first recruitment center that’s been attacked here in the homeland.

The tragedy of Chattanooga and the five marines who died tragically did not represent the first recruitment center that’s been attacked here in the homeland. In 2009, a similar attack occurred in Little Rock, Arkansas that killed one serviceman and wounded another. A Marine Corps recruitment center in Chantilly, VA and a Coast Guard recruitment center in Woodbridge, VA both took shots from the same rifle in 2010. Some were stopped before they could be carried out, like the one planned on a recruiting station in Seattle, WA in 2011 and another planned in 2012 on a recruitment center in Catonsville, MD. Each of these events underscore the irony in not allowing service men and women to holster guns they were trained to use.

Some problems in government are difficult…others not. This seems to me to fall in the second category and could be solved simply by allowing these military men and women to use the training they already have. That’s why I have joined with my good friend, Congressman Duncan Hunter of California, to cosponsor legislation he introduced on Tuesday to allow military recruiters to carry a sidearm while on duty or allow armed security to be assigned to a recruitment center. I will keep you posted on its movement.