This is an assumption on your part. There has never been a statement that there was not a gun. FWIS Last nights AMW re-enactment showed a gun.
You're right, there hasn't been a direct statement that there was not a gun. Instead, it has just seemingly "disappeared" from everyone's account of that night. The gun is the one thing that distinguishes this case as a forced abduction. I think it is very strange that it's the one detail that does not appear in this article. We'll see if it resurfaces in subsequent articles.