FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. (May 5, 2011) -- To guarantee the safety of Fort Meade residents and personnel who live and work here, all privately owned firearms must be registered with the weapons registration section of the Directorate of Emergency Services at the Demps Visitor Control Center.
Fort Meade regulation 190-13 states that a firearm is "a weapon from which a shot, projectile, or projectiles are discharged by gunpowder."
Fort Meade residents must register all privately owned firearms within 72 hours after establishing residency here, according to the regulation.
To register a firearm, the owner must bring proof of the weapon's make, model and serial number, said George Cartagena, supervisor of the VCC. The firearm is not required for registration.
The owner must then fill out two personal firearm registration forms. All service members at the rank of staff sergeant and below are required to have their unit commander sign the forms. All service members at the rank of sergeant first class and above are required to sign each form.
DES reviews the forms and enters the information into the Army's Centralized Operations Police Suite database. The COPS database helps military police and Department of Defense police departments create and maintain police reports, incident management reports and traffic violation summonses. It also compiles information about Soldiers, their family members, retirees and certain DoD component employees.
If people relocate, sell or lose their firearm, or if they change units on the installation, they must notify the VCC immediately, Cartagena said.
The regulation does not prevent federal, state or local law enforcement personnel who are authorized or required to wear, carry or transport weapons as part of their official equipment and duties from doing so as long as they are not in violation of applicable federal statutes or regulations.
The carrying and use of privately owned firearms by Department of the Army military and civilian personnel on the installation, while performing official duties, is prohibited.
The regulation does state, however, that individuals residing in privatized family housing, bachelor enlisted quarters or bachelor officer quarters may store their registered firearms and ammunition -- not in excess of 1,000 pounds -- within their quarters.
Firearms and other projectile-firing weapons stored in quarters must be unloaded and secured in a locked container such as a gun cabinet or gun case. They can also have a trigger-locking or action-blocking device. Firearms that cannot be stored in this manner must be kept in the service member's unit-designated arms room.
The regulation also mandates that privately owned firearms cannot be carried into or stored in any troop barracks or transient quarters. Such firearms and ammunition must be stored in the designated arms room of the unit to which the service member is assigned or attached, or if on temporary duty.
Lawful firearms brought onto the installation by individuals who do not reside or work on Fort Meade are not required to be registered -- provided the firearms are in a privately owned motor vehicle. Firearms must be unloaded and shall be carried in a locked portion of the vehicle outside the passenger compartment of the vehicle, or in a locked container that prevents the firearm from being readily available. Ammunition shall be secured in a locker container separate from the firearm.
Fort Meade residents and personnel who need to register a weapon should visit Demps Visitor Control Center weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
For more information, call 301-677-1064 or 1065.
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