Building 197 (where the shooting was) had no metal detectors.
From this article in the Washington Post:
Bolding mine.
I was honorably separated from the Navy via general discharge. A general is less desirable but is in no way equal to other-than-honorable or dishonorable.
I take it you received a General (Under Honorable Conditions) Discharge. That is different than an Honorable Discharge, and different than an Other-Than-Honorable or Dishonorable Discharge.
That’s my point!
You said:
This is an incorrect statement. There are several categories of discharge. Honorable Discharge is one. General Discharge Under Honorable Conditions is another. They are not the same. What you said is incorrect.
If your point is that a General Discharge is not an OTH or Dishonorable Discharge, then I agree with you (and never challenged this).
Didn’t I just say this?
Equating general with honorable was not my intention, rather that one can be honorably discharged via general.
One can be discharged under honorable conditions via a General Discharge. One can only be Honorably Discharged by an Honorable Discharge.
Being discharged Under Honorable Conditions is different than being discharged Honorably (which requires an Honorable Discharge). It might sound like nitpicking, but they are different categories with different ramifications with regards to benefits and later employment.
So, no metal detector (thanks, Terr and iiandyiiii, for fighting my ignorance) no AR or M4-ish rifle, guards that don’t often check bags large enough to carry a shotgun, and the guy had a security clearance. If the tweet is correct, were either of the handguns he was found with his, or were they obtained from the building’s guards?
Anyone have any idea what sort of legislation would prevent this sort of thing? Other than allowing CCW in the District (stop laughing already) and allowing CHL holders to carry on the job? (I mean it, stop laughing.) I know it’s not going to happen; for one thing, liability insurers would go ape. What is the liability/cost calculus for allowing employees to carry concealed weapons, and deal with the fallout from their misuse, negligent discharge, etc… vs. whatever effect such widespread carry would have to ameliorate the loss of life from a lone nut like Alexis? I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the costs from the former well outweigh any hypothetical benefits from the latter, but I’d like to see some cites if anyone has any.
Never mind that if the King County D.A’s office had done their job in 2004, this clown wouldn’t have been able to obtain either a CHL or be permitted to legally purchase a firearm. Or the Tarrant County D.A’s office in 2010. (11?)
I suppose we can gut what remains of medical confidentiality and put whoever complains of mental health issues on a list that prohibits them from owning a firearm. That certainly won’t have a chilling effect on people trying to get help for those issues. Of course, we’d need full and complete registration to try and figure out who owns firearms in the first place. And that would, maybe, have stopped this nut from buying the shotgun he ended up using. Edit: Well, legally anyway.
You mentioned working about a block away, iiandyiiii: if you’re at work today, is there any kind of noticeably increased security in the area?
A disticntion which has little, if any, bearing in this thread given that people have been equating general with other-than-honorable.
Incidents like these should be near-100% preventable at Federal (and especially military) facilities, with no changes to existing gun laws.
My opinion:
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No rent-a-cops as security guards. Nothing against these folks, who are assuredly decent people, but they have taken no oath, and it’s not really reasonable to expect heroic efforts from near-minimum wage security. Security at military facilities (and perhaps all Federal facilities) should be by armed, uniformed servicemen and servicewomen. Base police should be for things like traffic direction and public safety, but not security against possible attack.
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These servicemen and servicewomen should be trained and empowered to stop and search people, both at random and because of things like a gut feeling. If they think someone seems “off”, they should feel empowered to briefly detain them. I do not advocate for profiling (mostly because I don’t think it’s effective), except perhaps for very basic things like “male”. In order to keep these folks sharp, shifts probably should be no more than 4 or 6 hours, with at least 18 hours off before the next shift (or something like that).
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Some sort of armed response team on each base (this would probably only work for military facilities). Sort of like firemen- four guys or so on duty, playing cards and watching TV, but ready at a moment’s notice to suit up in body armor, arm themselves, and get to any part of their base within 5 or 10 minutes if a Panic Button is tripped (this will require Panic Buttons at security stations).
Something like that.
And now they’ve learned that they’re different, thanks to you. And thanks to me, they’ve also learned that General and Honorable are different kinds of discharges. Hooyah to us!
The Navy Yard is essentially closed to all but the most vital workers- most Navy Yard employees stayed home today. My office is unaffected, though there are more police officers in the area. There’s also a lot of media- they’ve taken over a chunk of the sidewalk, forcing everyone (including me) to walk in the street when going between my office and the Metro station.
Yeah, I figured the Yard itself would be pretty much closed today; I was just idly curious about the surrounding area. I don’t know why I’m somewhat surprised to learn that there are still so many media around. Thanks!
Well its three blocks from the Nationals ballpark where they are playing a double header today (Nats losing 5-3 in bottom of ninth) so life is returning to normal (including the Nats blowing leads this season).
But they’ve loaded 'em up with none out now. Against Kimbrel. We’re through the looking glass…
Holy crap, and the Nats win! In an homage to the nearby Navy Yard, the Nats sound a submarine dive klaxon when they hit a HR and when they get a win.
It was nice to see the Nats players wearing Navy caps today before the game. They also let the Navy Yard use one of their parking lots as a place for family members to gather yesterday and since they had their food prep staff on hand for the game that was cancelled, they served them free food and drinks.
I did not know that about the food prep staff - just that responders were using the parking lot.
That is nice.
That’s the kind of thing that makes a team part of the culture of the city.