Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has authorized National Guardsmen mobilized in Washington D.C. to be armed carry a “service-issued weapon,” a defense official said on Friday, though the Pentagon has not specified the specific weapons the soldiers will be armed with.

The National Guardsman in Washington, D.C. “will soon be on mission with their service-issued weapons, consistent with their mission and training,” the defense official said in a statement.

The Pentagon did not offer specifics to questions from Task & Purpose on whether soldiers will be issued M4s or the service’s newly adopted M7 rifle, or if the firearms would be pistols like the M17 or M18.

No information was immediately available about what prompted the move or exactly when the National Guard troops will begin carrying th

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