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.