The National Guard will not carry long guns while checking the bags of commuters going through the city’s subway system, state officials said. The directive reportedly came days after last week’s announcement that soldiers would begin patrolling subway stations to help the NYPD perform random bag-checks. National Guard soldiers who are not deployed at bag-check stations will continue to carry long guns as part of the Joint Task Force Empire Shield, the governor’s office confirmed with Gothamist on Sunday.
