What changes to National Guard firearm policies were made after Jan. 6, 2021, and in 2025 updates?
Executive summary
After the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, Defense and Guard leaders loosened some restrictions so Guardsmen in Washington, D.C., could be armed in support of civil authorities; by January 2021 Pentagon and National Guard officials said troops could carry batons and firearms on Capitol grounds and around key sites [1] [2]. In 2025, multiple official and media statements show National Guard units deployed in Washington were again authorized to carry service weapons under strict use‑of‑force rules as part of an extended federal deployment [3] [4] [5].
1. Immediate policy shifts after Jan. 6, 2021 — “Arming for protection”
In the days after the Jan. 6 riot, Defense leaders reviewed National Guard rules on use of force and told reporters they might allow troops in Washington to carry batons or firearms; Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy and other officials framed the change as a response to threats and to protect Guardsmen filling support roles around the Capitol [1]. Military Times and other contemporaneous reporting confirmed Guard members mobilized to D.C. were authorized to carry deadly weapons on Capitol grounds and at monuments and checkpoints, though guidance emphasized that Guard forces were operating in support of civilian law enforcement and would use weapons primarily for self‑defense or to stop imminent deadly threats [2].
2. Training and certification limits that mattered then and now
Reporting notes that carrying a weapon in these domestic support missions was tied to unit and individual qualifications: DoD and Army regulations require recent certification to carry and employ assigned firearms, and some outlets reported not all Guardsmen had current firearms qualification even during large D.C. deployments [6] [7]. Available reporting does not provide comprehensive public counts of how many Guardsmen were certified at each deployment [6].
3. How the Guard’s dual command affects firearm policy decisions
The National Guard’s dual state/federal chain of command lets governors and federal leaders shape when and how Guardsmen carry weapons. Analyses and background sources explain states can impose additional restrictions when the Guard operates under state active duty, while federal mobilizations and Pentagon directives set another baseline — a tension that came into focus both in 2021 and in later deployments [8] [7]. Available sources do not list a single, uniform National Guard firearms policy change that replaced all earlier rules; instead, changes were situational and tied to specific D.C. missions [8].
4. 2025 updates — reauthorization and extensions in D.C. deployments
In 2025, reporting from the Guard’s public affairs office and outlets such as Politico and PBS shows Guard members deployed in Washington as part of Joint Task Force‑DC were ordered to carry their service weapons, and officials stressed training and strict use‑of‑force limits, with force allowed “only as a last resort” and for imminent threats of death or serious bodily harm [3] [4] [5]. Media accounts also placed this authorization in the context of an extended federal deployment that began in August 2025 and was later extended into 2026 [4] [9].
5. Operational consequences and political context — competing narratives
Coverage in 2025 links the weapons authorization to an administration decision to federalize policing in D.C. and a broader “crime emergency,” which proponents said required armed Guard support; critics and some local officials argued the deployment and armament overreach state/local authority and could politicize military forces in a domestic role [4] [10]. The Guardian and other outlets framed the 2025 deployment and ensuing shooting of Guardsmen as intensifying political debate over the utility and risks of armed Guard patrols in public spaces [11].
6. Noted gaps, limits, and unanswered questions in reporting
Public reporting documents the fact of weapons authorizations and emphasizes training requirements, but available sources do not provide comprehensive, transparent counts of how many Guardsmen were individually certified to carry weapons in each deployment, nor do they publish a single consolidated directive text that replaced prior domestic‑use rules [6] [7]. Where sources directly quote officials or releases (D.C. Guard release, Pentagon statements), they do so; where such primary texts aren’t reproduced, reporting relies on official summaries [3] [2].
7. Bottom line for readers — conditional, situational policy changes
The changes after Jan. 6, 2021, and the 2025 updates were not a blanket, permanent rewrite of Guard firearms doctrine but situational authorizations tied to specific D.C. missions: leaders authorized Guardsmen to carry weapons for protection in support of law enforcement, conditioned on qualification and constrained by use‑of‑force rules, and those same patterns reappeared in 2025 with public affairs releases and press reporting confirming armed deployments [1] [2] [3] [4].