I'd bet they aren't allowed anywhere near live ammo. The politicians would be too scared.
In the 70s I was stationed at MCAS El Toro, in California. Nixon would fly in to go to his home in San Clemente. Ever see how they have military formations when the prez or a foreign head of state gets off a plane? That duty was rotated around the units on the base. For 3 months I was on it. When Nixon showed up, hours before we would get dressed up, go the armory draw our weapons, then go to a hanger and be searched, supervised by the secret service, to make sure no one had any ammo.
That makes sense to me for a head of state visit, the military is for show in that scenario and the SS are the only ones with teeth. After Kent State, I wouldn't think the guard would have live ammo either. But I do recall it being reported about them having live ammo around the beginning of January. I'm looking for an article that says live ammo explicitly, but everything I'm finding now just mentions the guard "carrying arms". https://www.stripes.com/news/us/pentagon-authorizes-national-guard-troops-to-carry-firearms-in-dc-1.658346
My coworker is the one who told me about the protocol for carrying live ammo and the rules of engagement. He was doing a similar job in Africa in the 90's as a Ranger and that was the protocol he described. It may be different for the guard, but I would think that's an SOP across the board. I honestly don't have any more personal knowledge than that, so I could be wrong. Honestly who the hell knows what's going on anymore.
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