He could have asked (and unlikely to have got) permission to have it deactivated by armourers in Iraq and could have brought it back legally. He smuggled back live ammunition. That should be a prison sentence in civvy jail without recourse, because it is breaking criminal law. Don't care, he would propably have made a decaration when he returned his ammo on tour or back that he had no live rounds. he broke that too. Wihatever his reasons he broke the law seriously enough that if he had been civilian, he would have gone to jail..