WASHINGTON
President Barack Obama’s choice to be the next chief of the Army said Tuesday that he thinks service members manning recruiting stations should be armed if laws are changed to allow for it.
“As far as arming recruiters goes, I think that’s complicated legally,” Army Gen. Mark Milley said under questioning by senators during his confirmation hearing.
But he said that if legal hurdles are resolved, “In some cases, I think it’s appropriate.”
The comments come less than a week after a gunman shot a flurry of bullets at a military recruitment center before attacking a nearby Navy and Marine reserve center, killing four Marines and a sailor in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Kuwait-born Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, 24, was shot and killed by police.
Following the Chattanooga attacks, some have questioned why recruiters are not allowed to carry firearms.
Military recruitment centers are generally located in highly populated areas such as shopping centers and strip malls, and those who staff them, like all military personnel in the U.S. not in combat or on a military base, are prohibited from carrying a firearm under U.S. law.
Earlier Tuesday, Obama ordered flags be flown at half-staff throughout the country for the victims of the Chattanooga attacks.
Flags flown at all public buildings and grounds, including military posts, will fly at half-staff until sunset Saturday.
