Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth signed a memorandum April 2 directing military installation commanders to allow uniformed service members to carry personal firearms on base while off duty, ending a prohibition in place for more than 30 years and naming the 2019 terror attack at Naval Air Station Pensacola as one of the events that made the change necessary.

The memo instructs commanders to apply a presumption of approval to any service member's request to carry a privately owned firearm in a nonofficial capacity. Any denial must be issued in writing with a detailed explanation. The policy does not permit personal carry inside installation buildings but removes the blanket prohibition that had effectively made bases gun-free zones for off-duty personnel.

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2019
Year of the NAS Pensacola terror attack, cited by name in Secretary Hegseth's memo as justification for ending the 30-year base firearms ban

NAS Pensacola, NAS Whiting Field, Eglin Air Force Base and Hurlburt Field are all in scope. How each base implements the policy will be determined by its commanding officer.

Hegseth cited three incidents: the December 2019 NAS Pensacola attack, a shooting that wounded five soldiers at Fort Stewart, Ga., in August 2025, and a domestic-related shooting at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., in March 2026. "Recent events like what happened at Fort Stewart, Holloman Air Force Base or Pensacola Naval Air Station have made clear that some threats are closer to home than we would like," he said.

The 2019 attack, carried out by Saudi aviation student Mohamed Saeed Alshamrani, killed three sailors, Ensign Joshua Kaleb Watson, Airman Mohammed Sameh Haitham and Airman Apprentice Cameron Scott Walters, and wounded eight others before Escambia County Sheriff's deputies shot and killed Alshamrani.

Ryan Blackwell, who survived the attack after sustaining six gunshot wounds, told WEAR News he supports the policy reversal.

"Our military is the tip of the spear," Blackwell said. "I do think that it's the right direction that they're heading."

Gun violence prevention advocates warned the policy could increase suicide risk among service members. NAS Pensacola had not issued a public statement on implementation as of publication.