Allen West: Gun Control Hurt Security in Naval Yard and Fort Hood

Weighing in on the Washington Naval Yard shootings, former U.S. Rep. Allen West insisted on Wednesday that gun control policies on military installations are hurting security.

The real lesson learned from Monday's U.S. Navy Yard tragedy is that we have turned our military installations into gun-free zones, a free-fire area for an attacker, West posted on Facebook on Wednesday. As in Fort Hood, once an assailant breaches the perimeter security checkpoint they are in a target-rich environment of unarmed and defenseless uniformed service members and civilians. A Clinton-era executive order made this possible, so now what should be the safest place is, in fact, a kill zone. Let us not forget that 30 years ago, 238 Marines lost their lives in Beirut because the ROE did not allow them to have weapons loaded, even at the security checkpoint. The response times at Fort Hood and the Navy yard were 10 and 7 minutes respectively ... and in both cases the assailants were shot by civilian law enforcement, not military. Our enemies are watching.

West, a favorite of the tea party, has opened the door to a political comeback in 2016.