II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1821 

To permit service members to carry firearms on military installations, 

including reserve centers and recruitment offices. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 21, 2015 

Mr. JOHNSON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To permit service members to carry firearms on military 

installations, including reserve centers and recruitment 

offices. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Armed Forces Self5 Defense Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—It is the policy of the United 

8 States that Department of Defense personnel shall be ap9 propriately armed and have the inherent right to self-de10 fense. 


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•S 1821 IS

1 (b) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE POLICY.—It shall be 

2 the policy of the Department of Defense to permit trained 

3 military personnel to carry, open or concealed, certain per4 sonal firearms while on military installations in the United 

5 States. 

6 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 

7 not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment 

8 of this Act. 

9 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF PORTIONS OF REGULATIONS AND DI10 RECTIVES PROHIBITING SERVICE MEMBERS 

11 TRAINED IN THE USE OF FIREARMS FROM 

12 CARRYING A PERSONAL FIREARM ON A MILI13 TARY INSTALLATION. 

14 (a) TERMINATION OF FORCE AND EFFECT OF CUR15 RENT REGULATIONS AND DIRECTIVES.—Effective not 

16 later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this 

17 Act, the following regulations, directives, and rules shall 

18 have no further force or effect: 

19 (1) Section 4.b. of the Department of Defense 

20 Directive Number 5210.56, issued on November 1, 

21 2001, and modified on January 24, 2002, and on 

22 April 1, 2011. 

23 (2) Army Regulation 190–14, issued on March 

24 12, 1993. 


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1 (b) OTHER FIREARM BANS.—Effective not later than 

2 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, any 

3 provision in any other rule, regulation, or Executive order 

4 that prohibits military personnel trained in firearms from 

5 carrying personal firearms on United States military in6 stallations shall have no further force or effect with regard 

7 to such military personnel, and such military personnel 

8 shall not be prohibited from carrying personal firearms on 

9 United States military installations. 

10 SEC. 4. PROCESS BY WHICH SERVICE MEMBERS MAY 

11 CARRY A PERSONAL FIREARM ON A MILI12 TARY INSTALLATION. 

13 (a) PROCESS REQUIRED.—Not later than 60 days 

14 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

15 of Defense, taking into consideration the views of senior 

16 leadership of military installations in the United States, 

17 shall establish a process by which the commander of a 

18 military installation in the United States may authorize 

19 a member of the Armed Forces who is assigned to duty 

20 at the installation to carry a personal firearm on the in21 stallation if the commander determines it to be necessary 

22 as a personal- or force-protection measure. 

23 (b) RELATION TO STATE AND LOCAL LAW.—In es24 tablishing the process under subsection (a) for a military 

25 installation, the commander of the installation shall conVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Jul 22, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1821.IS S1821

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1 sult with elected officials of the State and local jurisdic2 tions in which the installation is located and take into con3 sideration the law of the State and such jurisdictions re4 garding carrying a personal firearm. 

5 (c) MEMBER QUALIFICATIONS.—To be eligible to be 

6 authorized to carry a personal firearm on a military instal7 lation pursuant to the process established under sub8 section (a), a member of the Armed Forces— 

9 (1) must complete any training and certification 

10 required by any State in which the installation is lo11 cated that would permit the member to carry in that 

12 State; 

13 (2) must not be subject to disciplinary action 

14 under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for any 

15 offense that could result in incarceration or separa16 tion from the Armed Forces; and 

17 (3) must not be prohibited from possessing a 

18 firearm because of conviction of a crime of domestic 

19 violence. 

20 (d) STATE DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

21 ‘‘State’’ includes the District of Columbia, the Common22 wealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession of 

23 the United States. 

24 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

25 In this Act: 


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1 (1) MILITARY INSTALLATION.—The term ‘‘mili2 tary installation’’ means a base, camp, post, station, 

3 yard, center, or other activity, including a reserve 

4 center and a recruitment office, under the jurisdic5 tion of the Secretary of a military department. 

6 (2) FIREARM.—The term ‘‘firearm’’ means a 

7 handgun, specifically, a gun designed for use in one 

8 hand such as a pistol or a revolver. 

Æ 


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