After reading the article, and only seeing mention of “AR-15s and handguns”, I conclude the people were lightly armed.
Lightly armed but well armed.
Right on. I thought the same. I read the article because I wondered what "Heavily Armed" meant. I wondered, M-60s? AK-47s? C-4? Bazooka? Grenades? Armored Hummers? Ma-deuce? Mounted Chain gun?
AR-15 and handguns! Maybe they hid the sexy stuff from the reporters and only showed the not so scary stuff.