Sponsors (11)
Official title: To amend the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 to establish a rebuttable presumption in favor of authorizing a member of the Armed Forces to carry a personal firearm on a military installation.
Introduced May 7, 2026 by Jeff Crank · Last progress May 7, 2026
The bill makes it easier for service members to carry personally owned firearms off-duty on military installations and adds procedural transparency for denials, but it raises substantial safety, security coordination, and administrative burdens on bases.
Service members: creates a presumption of authorization to carry personally owned firearms off-duty on military installations, making it more likely they can legally bring firearms onto base.
Service members and federal employees: requires written, individualized explanations when carry authorization is denied, improving transparency and due process around on-base carry decisions.
Military personnel, federal employees, and base visitors: expanding off-duty on-base carry increases the risk of accidental shootings or interpersonal firearm incidents on installations.
Military and local security forces: more off-duty armed personnel on installations could complicate security coordination and response protocols, potentially affecting readiness and safety.
Installation commanders and military law enforcement: increased administrative burden and potential legal exposure from issuing more written denials and handling appeals.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a rebuttable presumption favoring off-duty service members' authorization to carry personal firearms on DoD installations and requires written, objective reasons for any denials.
Allows a rebuttable presumption that a service member may carry a personally owned firearm on Department of Defense installations when they are not on duty, and requires any denial of that authorization to be provided in writing with an objective, individualized basis. Requires military installations to treat requests to carry personal firearms as presumptively approved unless the installation provides a written, clearly describable reason for denial that can be contested.