MOVING: A TIME OF EXCITEMENT AND STRESS
Military personnel and their families experience permanent change of station (PCS) moves typically every two to three years. While these moves may be welcome as a chance to transfer to new areas, take advantage of career opportunities, reunite with friends and family, or even make some new friends, they can also be stressful. PCS can involve packing, moving, finding a home, changing medical providers, and locating new community resources for your military family.1 Simple tasks like finding a new grocery store or local coffee shop can be added stressors. Whether a PCS move is across town or to another continent, there is a lot to manage.
Safe storage of firearms can be done through:
FIREARM STORAGE DOES NOT COUNT TOWARDS YOUR HOUSEHOLD GOODS WEIGHT LIMIT
Recognizing that Service members only have a limited prescribed household goods (HHG) weight allowance for PCS moving assistance, the Department of Defense has revised PCS moving policy to allow for empty gun safes (up to 500 pounds) to be exempted from the HHG limit.5 Service members working to complete their mission and uprooting their homes to do so will now have additional options to help keep themselves and their loved ones safe by being able to safely store their firearms and bring that safety with them during a PCS.
MORE INFORMATION
Service members and military family members, consider what storage options are right for you and your loved ones’ safety. Having your firearms safely locked, stored, and unloaded can help reduce risk and save a life. For more information on lethal means safety, the Defense Suicide Prevention Office provides a Lethal Means Safety Guide for Military Service Members And Their Families; this guide provides additional information on securing other lethal means in your home, how to talk to family to prevent suicide, and provides helpful resources.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
1. Military OneSource
– PCS & Military Moves: https://www.militaryonesource.mil/moving-pcs/plan-to-move/pcs-and-militarymoves/
2. Military OneSource
– Gun Safety in the Home: https://www.militaryonesource.mil/military-basics/millife-essentials/gun-safety-inyour-home/
3. Defense Suicide Prevention Office
– Lethal Means Safety: https://www.dspo.mil/Tools/Resource-Library/lethalmeanssafety/
