Two days after a jihadist gunman killed four Marines and a Naval officer in Chattanooga, Gov. Rick Scott issued an executive order to secure Florida National Guard centers.
Scott ordered Florida Adjunct General Michael Calhoun on Saturday to send National Guard members from current recruiting centers to Florida National Guard Armories until security is boosted. Additional security measures involve more coordination with local law enforcement and arming National Guard personnel.
This is the text of Scott's order:
Whereas, on Thursday, July 16th in Chattanooga, Tennessee, four United States Marines were targeted and murdered, along with at least three others who were injured, in what some U.S. officials are calling an act of domestic terrorism at a United States Armed Services recruiting center and a Naval Reserve Facility; and
Whereas, according to news reports, there have been multiple other attacks planned by ISIS against United States military members on foreign and domestic soil; and
Whereas, the United States Military and the Florida National Guard serve our country with bravery and honor and protect the freedom of our nation; and
Whereas, the state will take any and every measure available to secure military personnel against the planned attacks of ISIS, inducing but not limited to securing the work areas and recruiting stations for the Florida National Guard, which the state directs; and
Whereas, the state can begin to streamline the application process for military men and women to apply for a Florida concealed weapons license to ensure Florida Guardsmen and other United States military personnel who have signed up to serve their country in battle abroad can also adequately defend themselves at home.
Now, therefore, I, Rick Scott, Governor of Florida, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Florida Constitution, and all other applicable laws, hereby promulgate the following Executive Order, effective immediately:
Section 1. In the interest of immediately securing Florida National Guardsmen who are being targeted by ISIS along with other US military personnel, I hereby direct Florida Adjutant General Michael Calhoun to direct all Florida National Guard personnel at the state’s six store-front recruitment facilities to relocate to their nearest Florida National Guard armory. These Guardsmen will be relocated to armories until General Michael Calhoun can fully evaluate and make recommendations for improving the security of store-front recruitment centers. Such possible infrastructure improvements shall include, but not be limited to, installing bullet-proof glass and enhancing video surveillance equipment.
Section 2. I hereby direct Florida Adjutant General Michael Calhoun to begin discussions with local law enforcement agencies to arrange regular security checks for Florida National Guard armories. Such scheduled security checks can then be increased or decreased based on the acuity of the national security threat to the area.
Section 3. Thereby direct Florida Adjutant General Michael Calhoun to ensure that all qualified full-time guardsmen are adequately armed for their personal protection. This shall include, but not be limited to, the provision of arms for those fulltime Florida Guardsmen who do not currently have their own weapon issued to them. For those Florida Guardsmen who need a new state concealed weapons permit, the state will support the expedited processing of licenses for those soldiers.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam said his department would work to ensure military members would be able to get concealed weapon permits quickly.
"Our nation mourns the loss of the five service members killed in this tragedy,” Putnam said on Saturday. “I am fully committed to supporting our military members, and we look forward to expediting their Concealed Weapon License applications, which complements the measure we've already taken to allow service members and veterans to obtain a CWL regardless of the age requirement imposed on civilians."
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said on Friday that more needed to be done to protect military personnel.
“We all mourn the senseless loss of life in Chattanooga,” Nelson said on Friday. “Sadly, the violence there yesterday was the latest in a string of recent shootings at stateside U.S. military facilities. We absolutely must take steps to increase our domestic protection.”
Disabled veteran Brian Mast, wounded during his service in the War on Terror and now running for the Republican nomination to replace U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., in Congress, offered his take on Friday on the shooting spree. Mast insisted America was at war with jihadists and Islamic terrorists were not targeting the homeland.
“The loss of four of our Marines in Chattanooga, Tennessee is heartbreaking,” Mast noted on Friday. “These individuals were unarmed heroes who died defending their country from a radical Islamist enemy who has been calling for the specific targeting of U.S. service members for months.
“Americans need to come to the realization and get past the point of speculating about whether or not Islamists groups like ISIS, who have called for attacks in the United States, will begin to wage war within our cities and towns,” Mast added. “The United States is radical Islam's new battlefield.”
Sen. Dorothy L. Hukill, R-Port Orange, announced the governor's action on her Facebook page and immediately received a request for her to push Scott to order a lowering of the flag in honor of the Guardsmen killed in Tennessee because "it seems our president is too busy."
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
