Governor Kasich authorizes arming personnel at Ohio National Guard recruitment offices

The Associated Press is reporting that Ohio Governor John Kasich (R) has followed governors in several other states in allowing Guard recruiting personnel to carry firearms. The move comes after the attack in Tennessee that killed four Marines and a sailor.

From the article:

At Kasich’s instruction, Major General Mark Bartman, the Adjutant General of Ohio, granted the authorization as part of an update of policies and training requirements for the recruiting centers and a review of all security measures.

“The governor has made it very clear that we must take action to protect our members who are actively engaged in public recruitment efforts,” Bartman said in a statement provided to the AP. “We are updating our policies and strengthening small firearm training so that those men and women staffing our recruitment offices may protect themselves in the event of a threat.”

Ohio joins several other states where Guard personnel have been authorized to carry weapons after the Chattanooga shooting, whose victims included a sailor who grew up in Paulding in northwestern Ohio and a Marine whose father lives in central Ohio.

According to the article, the state has 67 Guard recruiting centers, most of them in the state’s 43 armories or at Guard bases. Earlier this week, the Ohio Guard temporarily moved personnel from four store-front recruitment offices in Columbus, Dayton, Findlay and Painesville to nearby armories.

Legislation, both at the state and federal levels, is needed to address other issues involving our (dis)Armed Forces.

Earlier this week, state Senators Joe Uecker (R) and Randy Gardner (R) introduced legislation to address some of the outstanding issues here in Ohio, and more legislation is expected to be introduced soon in the House to address other issues.

At the national level, Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican who represents Wisconsin and is chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, says he will introduce legislation "calling for the termination of regulations that prohibit members of the Armed Forces from carrying certain firearms on military installations."

Our service members and combat-tested veterans are trusted around the world to bring piece to war torn areas. They must be trusted with firearms here too, so that others cannot wage war on them on their bases, recruiting centers or anywhere else.

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Secretary, BFA PAC Vice Chairman, and an NRA-certified firearms instructor. He is the editor of BuckeyeFirearms.org, which received the Outdoor Writers of Ohio 2013 Supporting Member Award for Best Website.