My first bit of the Navy I had no exposure to small arms. But we had MARDET and a battlegroup, so what's a few 9mm? After 9/11 there was always something, the shotgun watches I stood or supervised carried a C3 590. At my last command I stood entirely too many watches. Everything was C1 with spare mags and entry points were more than one watchstander.
Not sure how you pull this off at recruiting stations, no armory. I still like my MEPs idea. Round up a bunch of medically recovering servicemembers, give them guns and a room close to the entrance with couches and a X-Box.