The Policy That Made American Warriors Into Sitting Ducks

Hegseth Just Ended the Policy That Left Soldiers Defenseless for 35 Years

A gunman at Fort Stewart, Georgia opened fire on his fellow soldiers on August 6, 2025 – and every soldier who could stop him was unarmed. Six of them charged toward the gunfire anyway and brought him down with their bodies.

Now Pete Hegseth just signed a memo that changes what happens the next time someone opens fire on a US military installation.

For 35 years, a 1992 Pentagon directive effectively disarmed the U.S. military on its own soil.

Carrying a personal firearm on a U.S. military installation was prohibited. Military police could carry. Soldiers actively training could carry their service weapons. Everyone else – the sergeants, the logistics specialists, the medics going to work every morning – was disarmed the moment they walked through the gate.

Hegseth put it plainly. "Effectively, our bases across the country were gun-free zones," he said Thursday. "Unless you're training, or unless you are a military policeman, you couldn't carry. You couldn't bring your own firearm for your own personal protection onto post."

"Well," he added, "that's no longer."

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