By: Teresa Mull
A Saudi military pilot killed three American sailors and wounded eight at Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida last week. Now, several pilots are calling on the military to change the rules and allow them to be armed.
Fox News reports: “One of the shooting victims was the captain of the U.S. Naval Academy rifle team, an ‘excellent marksman,’ according to his brother.”
Some pilots, who asked not to be identified, told Fox:
“It’s so stupid that on a military base, the shooter was allowed to roam free for so long. In a gun fight, that’s an eternity.”
“I have zero confidence the guy I show my ID card to at the gate could save me.”
“We trust 18-year-old privates in combat with grenades, anti-tank missiles, rifles and machine guns, but we let service members get slaughtered because we don’t trust anyone to be armed back here in the United States.”
“Our message is simple: arm us. We don’t want to count on cops or gate guards to save us in a crisis.”
Teresa Mull is editor of Gunpowder Magazine.