re: #45 Fat Bastard Vegetarian
re: #19 Charles

But the soldiers had ammunition, in the magazine packs, not in the guns. Common for duty in civilian areas where sudden crowd control or evacuation is at least as likely as a gunfight. An old non-troversy maybe?

Excerpt
By Aaron Davis, San Jose Mercury News, Calif. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Oct. 5—Three soldiers, their M-16 rifles and 120 rounds of ammunition.

Beginning today, that military presence — along with the familiar metal detectors and X-ray machines — will greet passengers at every security checkpoint leading to planes at San Francisco and Los Angeles international airports.