--- description: In the aftermath of the deadly shooting at Fort Hood, lawmakers and military officials are weighing in on base security title: Lawmakers, Officials Debate Guns on Base After Fort Hood Shooting image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt22a16518490cfb4d/69868922e53aba5ea94d1dd5/482539845.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Military](/tag/military/) ## Military Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Lawmakers, Officials Debate Letting Soldiers Carry Guns on Base by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) and [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) Apr 6, 2014 7:35 PM CUT  KILLEEN, TX - APRIL 3: Brandon Dunn of Baton Rouge, La, and Elissa Landry (blocked by flag) of Phoenix, Az, visit a memorial at the Central Christian Church, where three crosses have been erected for dead victims and 16 U.S. flags for those wounded in the latest Fort Hood shooting on Thursday, April 3, 2014, in Killeen, TX. Soldier Ivan Lopez killed three people and injured 16 others before turning the gun on himself on Wednesday. Both Dunn and Landry are enlisted in the Army and Dunn knows one of the victims who was shot and lived. (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images) KILLEEN, TX - APRIL 3: Brandon Dunn of Baton Rouge, La, and Elissa Landry (blocked by flag) of Phoenix, Az, visit a memorial at the Central Christian Church, where three crosses have been erected for dead victims and 16 U.S. flags for those wounded in the latest Fort Hood shooting on Thursday, April 3, 2014, in Killeen, TX. Soldier Ivan Lopez killed three people and injured 16 others before turning the gun on himself on Wednesday. Both Dunn and Landry are enlisted in the Army and Dunn knows one of the victims who was shot and lived. (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images)Jahi Chikwendiu—The Washington Post/Getty Images by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) and [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) Apr 6, 2014 7:35 PM CUT Lawmakers and military officials weighed in on Sunday morning on the wisdom of allowing soldiers to carry private weapons on bases, after the deadly shooting at Fort Hood last week prompted a debate about base security. Representative Michael McCaul, the Republican from Texas, suggested arming soldiers would be a good way to prevent shoot-outs. “We need to talk to the commanders about whether it would make sense to have not all but maybe some of our senior leadership officers, enlisted men on the base, carrying weapons for protection,” he said on CBS’s _Face the Nation_. But Pentagon officials and military commanders have said it would likely be a poor idea, said Dan Pfeiffer, a senior adviser to President Obama, on _Face the Nation_. And Michael Mullen, a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also said he was not in favor of the idea. “I’m not one, as someone who’s been on many, many bases and posts, that would argue for arming anybody that’s on base,” Mullen said on NBC’s _Meet the Press_. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/51105/fort-hood-guns-base-debate/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/51105/fort-hood-guns-base-debate/"},"headline":"Lawmakers, Officials Debate Letting Soldiers Carry Guns on Base","datePublished":"2014-04-06T19:35:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-30T11:29:40.119Z","description":"In the aftermath of the deadly shooting at Fort Hood, Representative Michael McCaul of Texas suggested arming soldiers would be a good way to prevent shoot-outs, but retired admiral Michael Mullen, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it would be a bad idea","url":"https://time.com/51105/fort-hood-guns-base-debate/","keywords":["Military","Gun Control"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt22a16518490cfb4d/69868922e53aba5ea94d1dd5/482539845.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Video","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-video/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt22a16518490cfb4d/69868922e53aba5ea94d1dd5/482539845.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Fort Hood Shooting","caption":"Fort Hood Shooting","creditText":"Jahi Chikwendiu—The Washington Post/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/military/","name":"Military"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/51105/fort-hood-guns-base-debate/","name":"Lawmakers, Officials Debate Letting Soldiers Carry Guns on Base"}}]}] ```