Armed guard members will carry the type of weapon they are normally issued and trained on, typically M17 handguns and M4 semiautomatic rifles, similar to assault-style rifles, the Defense Department officials said. Some guard members will carry M9 pistols.

The military weapons are similar to those used by local police departments across the United States. The M4 is a standard semiautomatic rifle and has roughly the same capabilities as semiautomatic rifles used by law enforcement agencies.

Completely incorrect. NBC is clearly trying to downplay the seriousness of this. M4 rifles are not assault “style”. They are assault rifles, fullstop. The M4, and other assault rifles, are not legal for civilian use. They have full automatic or burst fire capability, depending on the specific model.

The weapons these soldiers are carrying are not AR-15s. These are not “assault weapons”. These are weapons of war. They are not for civilian hunters or shooting competitions. They are for killing human beings.

  • NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip
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    1 day ago

    The National Guard? If they are given a gun by logistics then they are being given ammo. This isn’t Enemy at the Gates (or VERY specific and isolated cases on the Eastern Front of WW2). So expect LOTS of discount green tips on the East coast in the near future.

    The deputized proud boys? They just bring their own.

    • Tippy@sh.itjust.works
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      22 hours ago

      Not correct. NG has levels of escalation they use that determines what kind of equipment they carry. This can vary from not being armed, to carrying rifles with no magazines, empty magazines, loaded magazines with no rounds chambered, up to full combat readiness. I’ve had conversations with NG and former active duty combat guys I work with specifically about this, some of them with a lot of experience and rank.

      Not to support their deployment in our cities or use as a weapon against our people for exercising their rights, just correcting misinformation. Of the ones I still interact with and trust, they don’t support this shit either.

    • Fondots@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      It has been a pretty common thing for the national guard to be deployed domestically with weapons but no ammo, or with ammo on their person but not loaded into their weapons, so it’s a valid question.

      • NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip
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        1 day ago

        Had not heard of being issued empty guns. Seems like said military would push back drastically because it is dead weight that makes them worse than useless in a crisis.

        What IS common is to have doctrine of unloaded guns. Sometimes that is stated as having an unloaded magazine in the gun but having full mags on their body so it is a quick swap when they want to kill someone. Usually it more just means that they are told to not chamber a round (i.e. squeezing the trigger won’t make it go bang but they are one quick hand motion from being ready).

        Which… tends to line up with most “peace keeping” operations and behavior outside of active combat zones. It drastically reduces negligent discharges but they are like 2 seconds from being combat ready at any moment in time. It is just the gun nuts who insist that all guns need to be carried with one in the chamber at all times because they think they are going to have to quickdraw on that purple haired girl at the Starbucks at any moment.

        It is meaningless and they still have more than enough bullets to make Kent State look like nap time at a preschool.

        • Kalothar@lemmy.ca
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          1 day ago

          It is common, I was In the Army ( national guard). They would give us everything for a duty besides the ammo, and yes this included a time where I did security for a civilian protest. Had my m4, with empty magazines, full kit otherwise. This was about 8 years ago now.

          They did the same thing for a different army unit I was in when they were deployed during Katrina.

        • Brkdncr@lemmy.world
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          1 day ago

          FYI if you’re not sure about something then don’t make a statement of fact. That’s how disinformation is propagated.

          Military are commonly deployed without ammo, as others have stated.

          • NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip
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            23 hours ago

            Considering I specifically said I wasn’t aware of outright being unarmed (and most examples are from closer to 20 years ago than not) and that the doctrine in LA was exactly what I described?

            1. I never made a statement of fact
            2. My speculation actually ended up being accurate from a quick google

            So I am just going to assume you are part of the crowd coming here from the /c/conservative board losing their mind over people not properly glazing the military.

            • Brkdncr@lemmy.world
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              22 hours ago

              Here you go:

              If they are given a gun by logistics then they are being given ammo.