The pistols and powerful rifles guard members carry are similar to those local police use across the country. Troops have been told to use their weapons only as a last resort.

The exact number of troops who would carry their weapons was fluid, but they will either carry M17 pistols or M4 rifles, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

National Guard troops on duty in President Trump’s crackdown in Washington, D.C., began carrying weapons in the capital Sunday evening, according to a spokesman for the National Guard task force. Several members of the Guard from South Carolina were seen late Sunday outside Washington’s Union Station with firearms holstered to their hips.