<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by rcomputer:
I was surprised that they did not have their guns in their hands ready to use. The gun is not loaded? What use are they??
British police officers do not normally carry guns yet they have patrolled airports there for years with H&K submachine guns loaded and ready to return fire.
And there I was thinking the sham could not get any worse!!
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There's a difference because British airport security has to deal with the threat of an IRA attack, and the possibility of instant violence is higher. American airport security isn't at that level of alert yet.
The expectation is that if the Guardsmen needed to use its rifles, there would be time to load the weapons as they respond to the emergency.
Keep in mind the Guardsmen are not so much a real security response as a PR response.