Firearms base policies

G I Joe, Sir: To some of us old retired military personel our RV is our home and I think we should have the same rights as people that live in permanent homes. So G I Joe, should I bury my Varmint riles and targe pistols outside the gate some where. I get full background checks once a year for my CCW. What should I do G I Joe? Gpenrod USN Ret.

...rod

You DO have the same rights as stick owners. You have the right to obey the law. No one is suggesting you "bury" anything outside the gate. When you enter the gate, declare your weapons and follow the laws and instructions applicable.

What GI Joe said was simply, why do you need an arsenal on a military installation? If you need the fix of owning a weapon to feel safe, fine. Just be a law abiding citizen when you do so. Talk of how to sneak weapons on or off base--as has happened on this very string--is simply conspiracy to commit a felony.

When owning a firearm goes from being a hobby to being an obsession someone needs to step in the middle and enforce the laws and regulations. Enjoy your hobby.

Glenn

Although we've only stayed on four bases so far I have never been asked about firearms when entering the base. Normally I drive up with both my and my wife's ID cards in my hand to show the gate guard and get waived right through with "Have a good day Chief". (That is one of the reasons I enjoy staying on base. It is good to be called Chief again.)

Most private campgrounds will give me a copy of the campground rules and quite often "no firearms" is one of the rules. I don't really know what they expect RVer's to do with them when their out on the road and far from home, unless they are fulltiming in which case they are home. Although I expect the military gate guards to have a right to inspect my vehicle (RV) as requirement to enter a military base, there is no way a private campground owner is going to require me to invite him into my house to search it.

When we travel we often times make overnight stops at rest stops, Wal-Mart, etc. We stop in the evening and leave early the next morning. (We are not camping but just stopping for a rest. Now that we are fully retired we do this less and less.) Anyway, we feel much more secure with a weapon in the coach to protect us. (Remember the Florida family that was parked at a Wal-Mart in Utah when the local town crazy tried to force his way into their coach. The wife wound up blowing the guy way before he could get in an harm either her or her two young daughters.) I don't need an arsenal but a hand gun big enough to do the job is part of the rig. Of course, I'm from Oklahoma and we still consider ourselves part of the wild frontier so that may have something to do with my thinking.

Is it true that some bases have x-ray or some other sensor to detect explosives and/or firearms? I'd hate to have my firearm hidden somewhere in my coach and have them find it after not declaring it.

Al

I don't know your background Al nor do I much care after reading your post. I joined this group because I figured to find a group of military related, honest, law abiding, people here. I hope you learn to follow the rules and don't cause yourself great embarrasment to your country, service and family and friends by being caught with a hidden weapon. If you get caught then you deserve to read all the books they throw at you.
Chris the Bigfoot
40' American Dream
2000 Merc Mountaineer
DataStorm User #1226

In my earlier post on this topic I stated that I had no problem turning my handgun in at a military installation. If, however, they say NO guns period, I'll turn my rig around and sleep somewhere else that night. If I fail to declare my gun, or lie about, and am caught, I would lose my liscense. That's the way it read under the regs for a Texas CHL.

In my earlier post on this topic I stated that I had no problem turning my handgun in at a military installation. If, however, they say NO guns period, I'll turn my rig around and sleep somewhere else that night. If I fail to declare my gun, or lie about, and am caught, I would lose my liscense. That's the way it read under the regs for a Texas CHL.

I agree with you on this one. If asked upon entering a military base I will gladly tell them, yes, there is a hand gun iocked in my safe. If they want me to check it with them no problem. If they so no firearms then I'll have to go down the road to a private campground. So far, at NAS, Jacksonville; NAS, Key West; NAS, Pensacola; Navy CB Base, Gulfport, MS; and Ellsworth AFB, SD, I have never been asked, either at the gate or at the campground.

When I'm on a military base I have never felt a need to have the gun out of the safe. It stays locked there the whole time I'm there. Now, in a private campground it is a different story. If we are out sightseeing in the car then the gun is locked in the safe. When we are in the coach it is on the nightstand beside my side of the bed. As I've said in previous post, there is no way a private campground host/owner will step foot in my coach to search it for a gun or anything else. When I'm on the road, which is about seven to eight months out of the year, that coach is my home and I will protect my home, just like I will when I'm sitting here in my stick house in Oklahoma.