Armed residents guard Gallatin recruitment office
Three Sumner County residents, including one carrying a semi-automatic rifle, stood guard outside the Armed Forces Career Center in Gallatin on Tuesday hoping to show support and offer protection for unarmed military personnel inside.
Aaron Hollands, Torrey Zimmerman and Joey Forkum arrived at the recruitment center, located at 160 Belvedere Drive, around 9 a.m. They plan to return on a recurring basis as their time and schedules permit.
"The biggest thing is a show of force and to show our support," Hollands said. "Obviously if something goes down we're ready, but (we're here) mostly just to show that if nobody else is going to stand up and protect them we'll have their back. They have our back every day.
The demonstration comes less than a week after Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez opened fire at a military recruiting office and a Navy-Marine operations center a few miles apart in Chattanooga on July 16. Four Marines and a Navy sailor were killed by the 24-year-old, who authorities said was later killed in a shootout with Chattanooga police.
In the days since, hundreds of similar demonstrations like the one in Gallatin have taken place at recruiting offices across the United States where military personnel are banned from being armed.
"Every one of these tragedies, every one of these active shooters, is always in a gun-free zone," Hollands said, pointing to a sign identifying the center as a gun-free zone. "It's always somewhere with this sign.
"These people are trusted to protect our country all day, but they can't protect their own lives because of this building. They all have the legal right to carry, but inside of this building… they can't carry (a gun)."
In the wake of the Chattanooga shooting, Gov. Bill Haslam said in a statement on Sunday that he has called for a review of security policies and procedures at National Guard armories and other military installations in Tennessee.
Several people stopped by recruiting center to offer support Tuesday including Gallatin resident Regina Cole who brought the group drinks.
"I commend them for doing this," she said. "I know you can't protect this whole thing, but at least they are making a stand."
Cole's father served during the Korean War and her husband served in Vietnam. She fought back tears recounting how she felt when hearing about the shooting in Chattanooga.
"Now there are kids without fathers, there are mothers without sons, wives without husbands and for what?" Cole said. "Just because someone was trying to make a point? It's senseless deaths. It's deaths that don't have to be."
Reach Josh Cross at 615-575-7115.