Last Updated Jan 3rd, 2020 at 3:58 pm

Both U.S. Marines and civilians performing Marine Corps law enforcement duties will now be permitted to carry concealed firearms while on bases, the Corps announced this week.

A Marine spokesman said in a press release that the armed services branch made the decision after two fatal shootings at military bases in December. The new policy allows the Commandant of the Marine Corps to authorize military and civilian officials to carry privately owned concealed firearms while on base.

In early December, a sailor killed two civilians and then himself at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in Honolulu. Just days later, a Saudi national killed three people at Naval Air Station Pensacola before being shot by law enforcement.