Thanks to an executive order signed by Governor Doug Ducey (R-AZ), Arizona’s National Guardsman will now be permitted to arm themselves for self-defense while on duty.
This comes in the aftermath of the tragic attack in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The order references the rampage, as well as the 2009 attack on Fort Hood.
“What we're looking at here is running our guardsmen through a training program, arming them, and allowing them to carry that weapon into the workplace,” Colonel John Hoefert of the AZ Army National Guard said.
"What we're going to be doing is looking at the outlying armories that we have that are probably less secure, and we're going to go ahead and provide people who work in those facilities with a weapon to carry to work," said Hoefert.
The executive order was necessary because of a Department of Defense policy that assumes that people entering military facilities don’t need to carry weapons since there are already armed security personnel present.
Not all soldiers will be issued handguns as a result of the order; it will start with soldiers at recruiting centers and certain at-risk armories. But, there is a second part to the order that aims to eventually allow soldiers to bring the personal weapons in as a condition of working in Arizona. Though, Hoefert says “As a condition of employment here in Arizona, we certainly can restrict what that weapon looks like.”
Arizona isn’t the first state to arm its guardsmen. Other states include: Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Indiana, Wisconsin, Mississippi and Kentucky.