where they had placed their legal, .35-caliber handguns
Oh. overlooked that, Happy.
Pretty rare for them to be totin', ".35 caliber" handguns.
While there are a number of handguns featuring .355-.358" bore diameters, cartridge nomenclature refers to none of them as ".35 caliber."
The only commercial .35 pistol was the uncommonly seen Smith & Wesson .35 automatic pistol of the pre-World War I era, the production of .35 S&W ammunition for same being halted by the eve of World War II.
Another instance of the media getting it wrong.