Unless you have been in the armed service, you have NO idea the amount of red tape that comes along with putting weapons in people's hands. Not only is there training, maintenance, proficiency and other requirements and expenses, but you can't just give your gun to the next person on duty. There is a whole turnover process that has to be supervised.

In the navy, the on watch person would have to place the muzzle in this large can thing (incase of an accidental discharge) then the supervisor would read a step by step procedure about how to transfer the belt and holster, remove the magazine, eject the chambered round (using a special catch tool, of course, to prevent loss of the ejected round which also probably cost the nave $1000 to buy) and ultimately transfer the weapon. Huge PITA!