Army tightens concealed gun policy for Alaska troops
DISCIPLINE: 8 incidents involving soldiers' personal weapons cited for decision.
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/7549775p-7461348c.html
The Associated Press

Published: March 20, 2006
Last Modified: March 20, 2006 at 02:36 AM


FAIRBANKS -- Soldiers based in Alaska are no longer allowed to carry privately owned concealed weapons, under a new U.S. Army Alaska policy.


The ban is in response to several incidents involving soldiers and weapons, officials said.

"In the last six to eight months, there have been a number of incidents involving soldiers and privately owned concealed weapons that indicated a need to look at this policy," said Maj. Kirk Gohlke.

Incidents include a fatal shooting in Fairbanks that led to the current trial of three Fort Wainwright soldiers, Gohlke said.

A jury is deliberating the fate of Lionel Wright, Freddy Walker and Christopher Cox, who are charged with second-degree murder in the August death of Alvin "Snoop" Wilkins. The soldiers have pleaded not guilty, claiming self-defense in using personal weapons during a confrontation that killed Wilkins.

Gohlke said there have been seven other instances involving Alaska soldiers and personal concealed weapons in Fairbanks and Anchorage. He did not comment on specifics.

The new policy states that "soldiers who fail to comply are subject to adverse administrative action or punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice or both."

Military personnel and civilians also are prohibited from having or transporting a concealed weapon at any time at a military installation in Alaska under a policy that has been in place for some time.

Alaska law, however, is much less restrictive. In 2003, Gov. Frank Murkowski signed into law a bill that allowed citizens to carry concealed handguns in public without a permit.

Joe Nava, a Fairbanks firearms instructor, said there are still benefits for getting a concealed firearm permit, although the state doesn't require it.

Permit holders are eligible to buy a gun from a dealer without a background check, are allowed to carry a concealed weapon in 29 other states and are entered into the police computing system as a permit holder.

Nava disagreed with the Army's new policy.

"The military is taking away (soldiers') ability to protect themselves off base and that's not right," Nava said.

Gohlke, however, said the policy applies only to concealed weapons, not weapons for recreation and hunting.

"Our interest here is simply to protect the health and welfare of soldiers and promote good order and discipline," Gohlke said. "The intent is not to restrict soldiers' rights."

Boy, that one is a hard one to comment on. If they were going to carry off base, could their commands give them a background check?

Members of the armed forces are subject to the UCMJ at all times and a commander is within his rights to enact orders for the protection and welfare of subordinates....although not always popular, probably legal.....

The Military is subject to the Articles of the UCMJ at all times. The local Commanders can make and enforce regulations that pertain to all Military personnel under his authority. They cannot however make their regulations enforceable upon dependants in the matter of concealed carry, except from the standpoint of allowing it on the military installation. In other words as long as the Dependent is not breaking any State, County or Municipal laws they may carry off the military Installation.
Early in my Military Career I was stationed at an Installation where the Town was put off limits to all military personnel, and we were forbidden to shop at any retailer in that town. One of the NCO's wives did some shopping, and her vehicle was seen at the local Sears store. The Commander tried to use the UCMJ against the NCO, whereby the NCO's Defense Lawyer pointed out the fact that the Dependent was not covered by the UCMJ and was not compelled to do her shopping on Base.

Lee L.

While not popular, and IMO a Bad way to handle the problem. The Army can do pretty much whatever it wants as far as making rules and regs that its members must follow. That's one of the biggest things a lot of civilians don't understand. Service members give up their rights, so they can better protect other's.

-Matt

I don't know the particulars of the laws that well, but I believe that wearing a pistol in plain sight is not considered concealed, and the soldiers, off-base, could probably do so. I can envision that this might cause more problems than solve problems, however. Such as....if a soldier leaves his house with a pistol strapped to his side (in plain sight), he's probably legally in his rights to do so, but if he wants to go around about town, if he decided to leave it in his vehicle (say in the trunk) it would probably be considered concealed at that point. And there's probably not too many businesses that you wouldn't run into trouble going into with a pistol strapped to you. Doesn't leave many options.

All weapons on or transported through a military reservation are required to be registered in advance. No personally owned concealed firearms are authorized. Below is a paragraph from typical post regulations.

Firearms may be registered by completing FLW Form 1835, Personal Weapons Registration Form, and delivering it to the Military Police Station, Bldg 1000 (FLW Reg 210-25, 5.c.). In addition to personal information, the following information about the firearm is required on the form: make, type, serial number, caliber/gauge, and model #. DO NOT BRING THE FIREARM to MP Station for registration. The completed form will be validated and the original returned to the individual. FLW Form 1835, Personal Weapons Registration Form, is available at the Military Police Station (Bldg 1000) or the Sportsmen's Center (Bldg 2282). Weapons Registration Form Click Here

4) The individual is required to carry this Personal Weapons Registration Form when transporting firearms on or through the installation.