If you drive onto Fort Wood, here’s a reminder, “firearms must be unloaded and declared to access control point personnel”.

(Fort Leonard Wood)–The Fort Leonard Wood Directorate of Emergency Services reminds everyone entering Fort Leonard Wood that firearms must be unloaded and declared to access control point personnel. “Although we have electronic signs at each gate reminding people … we have seen an uptick in the number of folks we are finding violating these rules,” says DES Sergeant Major Cameron Regur. As a reminder, all firearms:

— must be registered prior to bringing the weapon onto the installation. Newly arriving personnel have 24 hours to register weapons after signing for on-post housing or receiving their weapons from a household goods delivery.

— must have a valid weapons registration present when being transported on the post.

— being transported through an access control point must be declared to the security guard. A gun case in plain sight on the back seat of a vehicle is not the same as declaring it to the guard.

— must be unloaded during transport, and the ammunition must be stored separately from the weapon while being transported.

— transported in a vehicle must be secured in the trunk. For vehicles, without a trunk, they need to be encased in a hard or soft container and separated in the vehicle in such a manner that they are not readily available or accessible to the driver or passengers. Firearms must not be encased and transported in the vehicle’s glove compartment.

Regur says Fort Leonard Wood does not recognize any state or federal concealed carry permit. Civilian violators — to include contractors, military family members, and retirees — can expect a mandatory appearance in Federal Magistrate Court, most often in Springfield, Missouri. Parents coming to pick up trainees for Holiday Block Leave need to know it’s a good idea to leave their firearms locked up safely at home before traveling to Fort Leonard Wood.