I’d like to address some of the common objections appearing in comments to Saturday's GRE column.
My attention to this story came from an email list
run by and for Marines.
The rifles are NOT being carried in bolt open
position. The bolts have been removed.
You can tell because the operating rods are in the forward position.
The rifles in the 2009 inaugural, as shown in the
last slide show photo, did not have the bolts removed.
The issue of parade rifles carried by honor guards being
disabled in a different fashion under previous administrations, such as having
their firing pins removed, is not being argued here, although it should be—not that
it didn't happen, but that it does. But that’s
not the thrust of this article. Here’s what is:
Unlike in 2009, in the 2013 inaugural parade,
someone in authority made the decision to change that and order the Marines to march
with visibly disabled guns.
3 comments:
As a general rule, all ceremonial rifles are disabled in some way. Usually they just have no firing pin. I have seen some of the older ones with the bolt welded shut and a plug welded into the end of the barrel.
Back when I went through boot camp (73), our rifles, while in San Diego didn't have firing pins. Of course when we went to Pendelton for marksmanship and infantry training we had the pins.
Removing the bolts seems to me to be just over the top. If this administration doesn't trust our Marines, well, you know.
Something just occurred to me. What if the order to remove the bolts didn't come from the POTUS or SS?
If the former policy had been removal of the firing pins, then this is looking more like a silent protest by the Marines. Everything since Benghazi has led me to believe that there is a cold war going on between the White House and the Corps.
Well, you know, the US Marines have been known to shoot a communist or two.
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