Booth's visit to the Surratt Boarding House after the assassination

[Laurie Verge]

I really am getting old! I knew full well that the military wore gun belts of some sort and had for centuries. I guess I was only thinking in the terms of a civilian...duh! I'm going back to my rocking chair to continue drooling.

What would have prevented Booth from strapping on such a gun belt before he rode up to the back of Ford's? I'm now torn between my original theory of the guns being gotten from Dr. Mudd and this revelation (to me) that Booth rode into Dodge with the pistols secured on his body and hidden by his frock coat.