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We can fire back in Afghanistan

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  • Originally published November 18, 2009 at 4:30 p.m., updated November 19, 2009 at 12:25 a.m.

Editor, the Advocate:

Why does it often take a horrible tragedy, as in the case of the terrorist attack at Fort Hood (yes, I'm going to call it the terrorist attack that it was!) to bring some people's attention to the root cause of a continuing problem?

The senseless killing of 12 soldiers, one civilian base employee, and the unborn child of one of the victims and the wounding of so many others on the largest military base in the United States not only begs the question "Why?" but also "How?"

The "why" will be debated for months and years to come, with plenty of media analysis and television psychologists weighing in with their opinions.

The "how" is a lot clearer to me.

The March 1993 decision/executive order/edict (whatever it was called) by then-President Bill Clinton that imposed regulations forbidding military personnel from carrying personal firearms was, in my opinion, the seminal cause of this catastrophe. I cannot imagine any logical reason for recruiting, inducting and training the finest young men and women that this country has, to protect and defend us, and then emasculating them by not allowing them to carry some of the weapons they will need to save their lives in combat abroad - and from terrorist attacks at home.

An article in The Washington Times stated that all shooting tragedies in the United States that claimed the lives of more than three victims have been in places where handguns have been banned. Witness the "gun-free zones" of Westroads Mall in Omaha, Neb., Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Va., and Columbine High School in Colorado, among others.

How many shootings have occurred in the thousands of police stations, sheriffs' offices, and state troopers' headquarters nationwide? Very few of which I've heard. No crazy fool would stand a chance there, surrounded by firepower in the hands of trained professionals. What if the many enlisted men and women at Fort Hood in, and in the vicinity of, the building where the attack occurred, had been allowed to carry the weapons that they were trained to use? The results would have been much different.

The wife of one of the wounded at Fort Hood was quoted in the Nov. 13, 2009, edition of The Patriot Post, when asked about her thoughts on her husband's deployment overseas. Her reply: "At least, there he can fire back, right?"

Curtis Carter, Port Lavaca


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