I can't believe this "explain how the guns get aboard" discussion is
still going on. This isn't the Enterprise, to use the cited example, which
is a *military vessel*, and only the occasional rare civilian gets on board.
There are a QUARTER MILLION PEOPLE on board at any given moment. (People =
humans and aliens.) Not staying there, but in a state of flux. Going and
coming. Anywhere from 50 to 100 ships per day dock at B5. Thousands upon
thousands of boxes, crates, cargo loads, pallets, you name it. If you stopped
and inspected every single box that came through, the system would grind to a
halt. So you do the best you can, you catch whatever you can, scan as much as
possible, and accept that some stuff is bound to slip through.

Further, this is the kind of explanation that has nothing to do with a
story, only with someone's need to have something explained to them. I think
the time is spent better elsewhere.

jms