Hegseth Memo Shifts Military Base Carry Policy Toward Armed Self-Defense

On April 2, 2026, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth issued a memo directing installation commanders to respect the Second Amendment rights of our service members on United States Military installations. Hegseth noted the Constitution is there to protect the rights of all Americans, including the rights of service members, which are protected by the Second Amendment. The current policies in place in the United States military made it virtually impossible for service members to be able to carry arms for their own protection unless they were military police or in some training exercises. Installation commanders have had the authority to...