DC National Guard members actively training to carry pistols in capitol mission [View all]

The DC National Guard is making sure all members have the requisite training to use a specific type of pistol should the official order to be armed come down from Trump or his Department of Defense, The Handbasket is the first to report. The fact that members may soon be armed was reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal and NPR, but this new information sheds light on the fact that members are actively preparing to be armed.

As recently as Thursday, the US Army wrote in a press release: “Weapons are available if needed but will remain in the armory.” Yet by Friday, according to the WSJ, some members “were told to expect an order to carry weapons.” The Army did not respond to the paper’s request for comment. However, according to documents and messages reviewed by The Handbasket, the wheels are already in motion.

According to two people familiar with the situation and whose identities are being kept anonymous for their safety, members of the DC National Guard task force assigned to patrol the streets of the nation’s capitol are qualifying—military speak for meeting training requirements—to carry and operate M-17 pistols. The M-17 is the military variant of the Sig Sauer P320 semi-automatic pistol, a controversial firearm that has been banned by multiple law enforcement agencies (including ICE) for reportedly firing without a trigger pull.

In the past 24 hours or so, DC Guard members have begun to be pulled off mission duty in order to go to the shooting range and practice with the M-17 pistols, messages from leadership show. It is unclear why the M-17 is the DC Guard’s weapon of choice. A message The Handbasket sent to the guard’s Public Affairs Office Monday evening asking for more context around the decision has not received a response.

https://www.thehandbasket.co/p/dc-national-guard-armed-m17-sig-sauer