Northwest Residents Stand Guard at Military Recruiting Stations

After the tragic, senseless shooting of five U.S. military servicemen in Tennessee, citizens all over the country are taking up their guns, and standing guard outside military recruiting and other service stations.

The movement has spread to the Pacific Northwest, where KING-5 TV reports people have taken up guard outside  recruiting stations in Bellevue, Silverdale, and Spokane.

In the Spokane situation, two men took personal time off from work, and took turns doing shifts outside a military recruiting office, armed with their own AR-15 rifles.

The movement reflects the public's frustration with a federal bureaucracy that won't allow guns in designated federal offices, which includes recruiting and other satellite military offices.  Rather than sit back, citizens have come out in droves to provide security for these offices.

While some of it is viewed as symbolic, it has gotten the attention of dozens of Congressmen, who are now asking why the government has such restrictive laws that don't allow military recruiting personnel to be armed in case of emergency.

The 5 U.S. servicemen gunned down by an Islamic extremist in Chattanooga were not armed, and many experts believe the recruiting office was targeted for that very reason.

It's heartwarming to see citizens showing their support for their fellow servicemen and women, and showing the know what the right priorities are - even if the feds just don't get it.