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The annual EMOBA Haunted House is busy scaring people for 2 weeks out of the year…
Members of Teen Challenge, gather for a memorial service at River Park Saturday, July 18, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn., for the victims of the Tennessee shootings. Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, of Hixson, Tenn., attacked two military facilities on Thursday, in a shooting rampage that killed four Marines and one U.S. Navy sailor. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski) NASHVILLE — A day after he was accused of “dithering” over security issues affecting the Tennessee National Guard’s storefront recruiting stations, Gov. Bill Haslam on Sunday ordered a review of security policies and procedures.
Haslam on Sunday also instructed state Department of Safety and Homeland Security Commissioner Bill Gibbons to assess the process of issuing handgun-carry permits to trained members of the military.
The steps came as governors in at least six states quickly ordered changes in their National Guard operations following last week’s slayings of five U.S. servicemen in Chattanooga amid a hail of gunfire at a U.S. military recruiting station and training facility.
Haslam spokesman David Smith told the Times Free Press on Saturday that “the governor has reached out” to Tennessee Adjutant Gen. Max Haston “and we’re looking at appropriate next steps.”
Haslam’s previous lack of action drew criticism on Saturday from Joe Carr, a Tea Party-style former Republican legislator who later ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate and state GOP chairman and is now a radio talk show host.
First on Twitter and later in a column on the conservative Breitbart news website, Carr charged Haslam, a Republican, has “been silent on the issue of acting in pursuant to his oath of office and his responsibilities as Commander and Chief of the Tennessee National Guard.”
“Gov. Haslam: The people are waiting for you to step forward and provide the leadership that five other governors have provided to their states,” Carr said. “The time for dithering is over.”
A sign, signed by supporters, is seen at a Lee Highway memorial for victims of the July, 16 shootings on Saturday, July 18, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. U.S. Navy Petty Officer Randall Smith died Saturday from wounds sustained when gunman Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez shot and killed four U.S. Marines and wounded two others and a Chattanooga police officer at the Naval Operational Support Center on Amnicola Highway shortly after firing into the Armed Forces Career Center on Lee Highway.Haslam’s office says the governor has directed Haston to do the following:
* Review current Guard personnel who are authorized to be armed in the performance of their duties, and identify and arm additional Guardsmen where necessary to protect themselves, citizens, and Guard facilities;
* Immediately examine the security of Guard storefront recruiting centers and work with the U.S. Department of Defense to pursue any available opportunities to enhance the safety of those operations within current federal law and regulations.
With all stateside U.S. military bases and stations now at a force protection status of “Bravo,” Haston will also review with the U.S. Department of Defense the “confines of current federal laws and regulations to ensure that facilities in Tennessee are secure,” Haslam’s office said in the statement.
Haslam will also work with the Tennessee congressional delegation on “appropriate solutions at the federal level to secure military buildings,” the administration says.
State Safety and Homeland Security Commissioner Gibbons will “evaluate the process for obtaining handgun carry permits for members of the military who have received appropriate training.
“At present,” the administration says, “members of the military may forgo taking a state training course with possession of a military ID and documentation of handgun training through their service. However, in light of the shootings in Chattanooga and threats to service members, Governor Haslam has asked that alternatives be considered to make the process quicker and easier for military personnel to obtain permits.”
The glass window of the Armed Forces Career Center is riddled with bullet holes after a gunman opened fire on the building Thursday, July 16, 2015, in Chattanooga. Authorities say there were multiple casualties including the gunman. Haslam on Sunday also appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press news program, telling the nation, where he said one of the challenges is that many of Tennessee’s armories are on federal facilities.
“So we don’t want to put our adjutant generals in a difficult position of giving them an order that they can’t carry out because it’s on a federal facility,” he said. “So we’re doing a complete review to see what we can. We’re concerned, obviously. We don’t want to leave our folks out there as targets when we’ve had such a horrible event happen just three days ago.”