That's interesting. Did they get to keep them? It would make sense. They're the militia, after all. Makes better sense than just stacking them up in some weapons depot somewhere. They'd just have to re-issue them if something came up.
Printing only a portion of my post is rather misleading. The purpose was to make up for some of the disastrous payments for their services. It was “personal”, not done for any military pupose. He’s very clear on the point.