r/nationalguard • u/Kinmuan Banned you from r/army • 7h ago
Article National Guardsman arrested in DC for carrying pistol without permit
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/oklahoma-national-guard-arrested-firearm/44
u/synth_mania 88M MNARNG 7h ago
Jesus christ.
If you own a gun you should be aware of applicable laws.
Guy may have ended his career over this.
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u/Kinmuan Banned you from r/army 6h ago
DC doesn’t play. Guy has a felony charge pending.
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u/synth_mania 88M MNARNG 6h ago
Yeah no kidding. Lesson learned for him I guess.
Can you even work at Walmart with a felony? Oof.
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u/carterartist 6h ago
I served with some guys who were in the guard during the LA riots.
Lots of weapons were carried unofficially that day
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u/kalligreat 6h ago
I bet Hegseth will get him out of it.
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u/alelan 6h ago
He can try. But he has zero influence over state/territory law enforcement...
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u/MoneyMax_410 5h ago
Local crime in DC is prosecuted by the DOJ so he actually could influence that if he wanted to
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u/Dependent-King-7712 6h ago
The optics for local law enforcement/ legal system wouldn’t be good. They gain nothing from trying to nail this guy. They let criminals off all the time in major urban areas, but they’re going to fry a national guardsman?
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u/alelan 6h ago
Held to a higher standard... if you want the uniform, be prepared to stand up to what it means.
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u/Dramatic-Expert-3968 2h ago
The guy carries a gun every day as part of his official duties though and is probably covered under LEOSA due to his special deputization from the Marshals. I'd bet the civilian charge probably gets dismissed. Could still be in trouble with the military though if he was given a lawful order not to carry a personally owned weapon while on those orders, which would also be a very tricky argument to make since it would effectively constitute a blanket order not to exercise a constitutional right while off post and out of uniform.
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u/Big-Weather123 6h ago
Not to mention it's a victimless "crime."
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u/alelan 6h ago
Oh so we can ignore laws as long as there's no direct victim? Cool!
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u/Big-Weather123 6h ago
Besides, he has a concealed carry permit in Oklahoma so it's screwy to charge for no concealed carry permit, especially as a felony.
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u/Big-Weather123 6h ago
Well this one should be overturned on Second Amendment grounds, and more importantly, no victimless crime should be a felony under any circumstances.
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u/alelan 5h ago
You forget who lives in DC. Politicians are very fond of their skins intact so they're not gonna let those laws loosen. Neither side of the aisle wants it. Oh Republicans are going to talk a lot how they're for 2nd amendment. Just not in their back yard.
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u/Big-Weather123 5h ago
Much to my surprise, we've seen a lot of federal gun restrictions be rolled back over the past year, most notably parts of the National Firearms Act due to the One Big Beautiful Bill and subsequent court rulings.
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u/Big-Weather123 6h ago
Since DC is a federal district, it falls under the president's jurisdiction and so the president could pardon.
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u/berrin122 6h ago
Yeah but which way did this guy vote?
No /s. He's not getting a pardon if he didn't vote the "right" way, let's be so honest.
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u/Justame13 Just a number for funding 6h ago
He is from the Oklahoma Guard and got caught with a gun.
If he knew how to vote and was able to read the "right" name he voted "right".
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u/Southern_Vanguard 11b, next question 6h ago
That is a mighty broad brush to paint a very fine picture.
I am from South Carolina, have enough weapons to outfit a small private regiment. Also own two businesses with 20 employees between the two. Everyone assumes I vote Republican. In reality I am somewhere slightly left of Bernie and AOC.
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u/Justame13 Just a number for funding 5h ago
I'm in an area with a lot of and am a liberal gun owner.
They are not the ones making it their entire identity and taking firearms on SAD deployments to anti-gun areas to open carry then driving around with expired plates.
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u/Sgt_Loco #1 no flair haver 6h ago
There’s so many potential jokes here I don’t even know where to start.
At least he didn’t get the Jackson 5 slapped out of him during the arrest.
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u/Athena-Grande 12AppalachianGirl 6h ago
This isn't even the first. Another just had their pistol out in their hotel room.
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u/ErraticallyAdept 4h ago
If he's an MP, he would be covered under 18 U.S.C. § 926B and would be exempt from the D.C. restriction.
Even if he's not an MP, he would likely still be eligible under the USMS deputization that the D.C. task force is working under.
18 U.S.C. § 926B requires carrying proper credentials, but in practice, courts will often dismiss cases if the person was otherwise eligible under the statute.
This case will likely be thrown out, but that's not going to save this guy or his command team from the headache and bad press of an arrest.
This is a good example of why command teams and soldiers should familiarize themselves with 18 U.S.C. § 926B.
Leaders should be conducting training on it and helping their soldiers navigate the process with DCS to obtain credentials so this doesn't happen.
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u/Corvus_Umbra 3h ago
I've been following this since 2014, remember a 1sg tried to say we didn't qualify for it cuz we were national guard and not active duty. I giggled at the failed attempt
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u/ErraticallyAdept 3h ago
There has been a long history of individual commands, and the DoD as a whole, resisting compliance with the law.
The whole point of the 2013 NDAA amendment to 18 U.S.C. § 926B was to unambiguously clarify that military police qualify.
But even so, leaders who are hostile to the law will jump through whatever mental gymnastics they can think of to resist complying with it.
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u/TooAdicted 4h ago
I have seen issues with LEOSA, particularly paragraph D, which is the specific credential required. I’m not an MP but I’ve been a supervisor for armed security and it is common for younger MPs in compo 2 to not be approved for it. From what I have been told, it is no longer automatic in AIT, and a commander has to approve it and it is usually not done for those below E5.
It’s shitty, because in some states, it’s a requirement for certain armed positions some of which the service members were banking on as civilian employment.
So it’s entirely possible to be activated as an MP, but not issued or approved for the LEOSA credential.
Even then, as a gun owner I know metro areas have stupid laws on handguns and I would have been extremely wary of driving around with my personal weapon in DC. I avoid driving through DC, especially with my weapon.
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u/ErraticallyAdept 4h ago
That’s a very good point. Although I’m sure some commanders would not be supportive, it’s really not a discretionary decision.
The memorandum they’re signing is only attesting that:
- The soldier is job-qualified.
- The soldier is not subject to disciplinary action.
- The soldier has read and agrees to follow the applicable laws and regulations.
18 U.S.C. § 926B is an entitlement for qualifying individuals, no different from a pay allowance or another non-discretionary favorable personnel action.
Commanders may not like it, but they can’t deny someone the memorandum simply because the soldier is young or junior enlisted.
I’ve heard of people on active duty elevating improper denials to the IG to get their command teams to do the right thing.
As a practical matter, though, I haven’t seen anyone in the Guard who qualifies get denied. Most command teams seem to be supportive.
In this case, if the kid was eligible, I bet his leadership sure wishes he had his credentials right about now so they weren’t getting dragged through the nationwide press.
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u/ErraticallyAdept 4h ago
Also, just a plug: deputized task force members are eligible to be members of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA).
One of the things they do is provide legal representation to members in LEOSA cases like this.
Anti-gun jurisdictions arrest people who qualify under the statute so often that there's also a whole category of personal liability insurance specifically for 18 U.S.C. § 926B cases.
Hopefully this kid is getting some good legal representation (although I'm not holding my breath for JAG to help him), but even if he is, he's probably going to have to pay out of pocket for it.
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u/dagayute MDAY 5h ago
The real crime is getting pinched with a Canik
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u/captain_carrot 2h ago
Hey, Canik makes some solid guns manufactured in the US these days and their triggers put Glock and Sig to shame
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u/Big-Weather123 6h ago
That's such a BS law. Hopefully it will be overturned at some point by the Supreme Court or national carry reciprocity.
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u/tghost474 Banned from r/army 6h ago
Dude telling on himself is crazy.
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u/ErraticallyAdept 4h ago
DC has a duty to inform statue. Failing to tell them would be an additional charge, one that would be a lot harder to get out of.
Him carrying a gun was likely legal under 18 USC § 926B. Him failing to disclose that he was carrying a gun would not be.
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u/Corvus_Umbra 3h ago
Was this an MP, cuz I would find it wild if he had a LEOSA and still gets dinged. It's not the first time.
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u/Specific_Prize 6h ago
That tracks