Commander C. Randolph Whipps (USN Reserve) has come out swinging for on-base concealed carry among Navy personnel.

In the December Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute, Commander Whipps takes the Navy to task for dragging their feet on concealed personal firearms for sailors, despite a directive from the Pentagon three years ago opening the door for it.

Whipps says:

[A]s evidenced by the recent insider-threat terrorist attack at Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola, the Navy’s response can be characterized as “too little, too late.” Why did it take the Department of the Navy (DoN) two and a half years to translate a November 2016 DoD directive into department-level policy? … [T]he delay smacks of bureaucratic inertia at best, and deliberate slow-rolling at worst.

Whipps is being polite. In spite of high-level orders for on-base concealed carry of personal firearms–including the support of President Trump–senior brass have resisted concealed carry. (Weird, right? Military brass *resisting* Trump? Who ever heard of such a thing?)

A columnist at Human Events proposes a less-polite answer to Whipp’s question about the delay:

[Senior officers] are terrified of political blow-back from media and lawmakers bent on gun control, even on military bases. [They] would rather write dozens of condolence letters after a rogue shooting than read criticism about *themselves* for authorizing concealed carry. No single senior officer can be blamed for a rogue-shooter massacre. But if an authorized concealed carry holder shoots one comrade by accident, the signatures on the concealed carry policy can be traced back to one or a few officers, who will be scapegoated.

If I am reading both these right, generals and admirals are afraid Nan-Nan Pelosi, Eric “Let’s Nuke Gun Owners” Swallwell, and The Washington Post will pitch an almighty fit if soldiers are allowed guns on base (because guns = bad), and the brass don’t want to deal with their hysterics. Besides, it’s not like any of THEIR kids are enlisted soldiers in danger of getting a bullet at lunch.

So the brass are taking the passive-aggressive approach: ignore what the Pentagon and the Commander in Chief says. Far better rank-and-file soldiers die by the score than Trump and Deplorables get a win.

Maybe Trump needs to come out against concealed carry on bases. Then House Democrats would devote all their energy to making it happen in a week.