I'm sure had Federal soldiers been told to remove the Malheur refuge occupiers, by force if necessary, or the Bundy led wanna-be-militia in the Nevada standoff, a machine gun would have been in their possession, perhaps even a helicopter gun ship.

Many years ago, a brother-in-arms, one of the finest rifle shooters I've seen, stopped a heavy machine gun a quarter mile away with a bolt action 30 caliber rifle. It only takes one well-aimed bullet to stop "a bad guy".