Along with Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas, Wisconsin is now the seventh state to allow some of its National Guard members to be armed while on duty. Governor Scott Walker signed the executive order this morning.
In his order, Governor Walker pointed to the Chattanooga, TN, terrorist attack where five service members were murdered and several others were wounded at an armed forces recruitment center and Naval Reserves Operational center last Thursday. Walker added that “these attacks are becoming more prevalent in recent years,” so “every precaution must be taken to ensure that our servicemen and women are protected from possible future attacks.”
The governor released this statement regarding his order:
Safety must be our top priority, especially in light of the horrific attack in Chattanooga,” Governor Walker said. “Allowing our National Guard members to carry weapons while on duty gives them the tools they need to serve and protect our citizens, as well as themselves. I am also directing Adjutant General Donald Dunbar to evaluate longer-term plans to ensure the safety of our service members.
A National Guard spokesman told the the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:
John Goheen, a spokesman for The National Guard Association of the United States, said that “certainly” not all National Guard members would be armed, adding that he didn’t know whether any guard members have been armed yet.
The hope is that the move will prevent a similar attack.
“What I believe everybody is concerned about is some kind of copycat,” Goheen said. “The knowledge that some guardsmen are armed may provide some deterrence.”
Taking this action should seem like a no-brainer to most Americans. A military without the ability to protect itself on its own soil from domestic attacks seems absurd. I applaud Gov. Walker, as well as the other six governors, for doing this.
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Meanwhile, House Speaker John Boehner ordered the U.S. Capitol’s flags to be lowered to half-staff this morning in honor of the Chattanooga victims, and the House Armed Forces Committee chairman called on President Obama to do the same at the White House.
Per the Hill:
“Today, Speaker Boehner has ordered the flags at the Capitol to be flown at half staff. He follows the Governors of Tennessee and other states who are doing the right thing to honor those casualties,” Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) said in a statement Tuesday.
“The President should follow suit and order flags flown at half staff across the country, and he should do so immediately.”
Earlier, the White House was mum on the subject.
President Obama is facing criticism from conservatives for not lowering the White House flags. Critics note that he did so for the 2012 shooting in a Connecticut elementary school, but has not yet decided to in this case.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters that he did not have “more information about the status of the flag over the White House” during Monday’s news briefing.
However, Politico reported just a few minutes ago that Obama has decided to follow behind Congress, ordering the White House flag to be flown at half-mast.
“We endure because the freedoms and values you protected are now defended by a new generation,” Obama told an audience at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, paying tribute to each of the service members. “As a grateful nation, we must stand up for them and honor them now and forever.”
In addition to the flag over the White House, Obama ordered all the flags to fly half-staff over U.S. embassies, legations, consular offices and other facilities abroad, including military installations.
Doing this should have been a no-brainer, just as it should be with arming our service members. What took so long? If no one raised a stink about it, I wonder if Obama would have had the flags lowered at all.
