PA Bill Number: HB335

Title: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons.

Description: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons. ...

Last Action: Removed from table

Last Action Date: May 1, 2024

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Carter SecDef nomination raises concerns for gun owners :: 02/04/2015

Senate hearings are scheduled to begin next week on Barack Obama’s nomination of Ashton Carter for Secretary of Defense, Fox News reported Sunday. And while the primary thrust of those hearings will be in determining the nominee’s suitability for leading the nation in managing “widespread, military-related challenges around the globe,” the placement of Carter at the head of the Department of Defense also poses unique concerns for gun owners.

That Carter is an elite establishment player is unquestionable. Earning degrees from Yale, being a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, going on to being “chair of the International and Global Affairs faculty at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government,” and holding various White House positions in the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations, we’re looking at a consummate insider. His having strong ties with Goldman Sachs and the Council on Foreign Relations should come as no surprise to anyone who follows how those at the top of the political food chain are connected.

That Obama’s “Pentagon procurement czar” is a doctrinaire Democrat is also evidenced by his substantial campaign contributions to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, among others (albeit, he also donated over various cycles to anti-gun establishment “Republican” Dick Lugar). Still, those associations in and of themselves don’t relate how Carter would be able to use the position of Secretary of Defense to impact gun owners.

Here’s one area that it might: In following up on reports of military installations destroying expended ammunition brass rather than making it available to the commercial reload market, this column uncovered a copy of a June 23, 2011 memorandum from Carter on “Department of Defense (DoD) Implementing Guidance for the Commercial Sale of Expended Small Arms Cartridge Cases (ESACC).”

The memorandum includes an “Implementing Guidance” attachment stating “DoD will dispose of ESACC as quickly and effectively as practical, and in compliance with applicable laws, regulations and DoD guidance.” Of relevance, it also states “The DoD will not expend resources to determine whether ESACC are serviceable for non-military purposes.”

Gun owners have a vested interest in seeing this area of authority explored in further detail. The hearings would allow Carter’s position to be made absolutely clear so that interested parties will be informed parties who can then decide on how they want to advise their senators.

Another area of concern almost certain to come up -- if not in the hearings than in the blogosphere and on gun forums – involves allegations that Carter “Wants all private weapons in US destroyed” [and] “Supports UN ban on firearms ownership in America. No other policy." While not difficult to believe based on the nominee’s political allegiances, the charges, while widespread, remain unsubstantiated with any credible and readily-retrievable source citation. Plenty are repeating the quotes. None seem to be able to substantiate where they got them from.

If such charges are resurrected and leveled without documented proof of where and when the nominee supported such extreme advocacy positions, it will not be doing those who oppose Carter for substantiated reasons any favors. Conversely, if such proof exists, it would be unquestionably within the interests of gun owners to demand their senators require elaboration, and to oppose the nominee as wholly unsuitable for any office requiring an oath to support and defend the Constitution.

While Sen. John McCain is predicting "a smooth confirmation process," exploring both the issue of Carter's commitment to expended brass resale and to the wider concerns over fidelity to the whole Bill of Rights could put a bump in the road. Whether any senator raises either issue in the confirmation hearings will depend on how strongly gun owner constituents make such expectations known.