Yes and no. I believe the soldiers who carried them had they right because they earned that freedom through their own sacrifice and through the acknowledgement of their sacrifice it is our duty to preserve their history. I think those who now butcher that history have the least respect for it or even indifference or they would hold these pieces on higher regard than as just wood and metal.
Whether it be web gear, small arms, helmets, medals, or history books the truth is that we all owe those people more than any of us can give them. We cannot give them their lives, their friends lives or lost years back. We can't take their pain and torment away. All we can do is keep the promise never to forget all that they have done for us and not take what they earned and preserved for us for granted.
We owe it to them to do whatever we can to make sure there are objects around that we can share with future generations that can help to put their sacrifice into perspective. It's very hard to try to imagine what they went through. I could not imagine losing four or five or a dozen of my closest friends(and really the only people who matter to me as I've been gone from home by now for a year or two) in the most painful way possible in a single day or week or even over the course of a year in combat. Add in the fact that you are insanely tired and never get to sleep and when you do it's in a cold dirty and often wet hole in the ground, hardly ever get a decent warm meal, and are constantly harassed by loud noises, shelling, strafing etc. There is just no way any of us who haven't made that sacrifice can ever know.
It's honestly my opinion that a LOT of people take a lot of things in life for granted and feel like something is owed to them. Yes you have the right to choose, but the means with which we were given that right means that we have an obligation to remember, preserve and never repeat the history that they symbolize. The men and women who sacrificed so much are leaving this world more and more every day and it's now our turn to do our part. These rifles, if taken care of, will still be a reminder of that sacrifice generations down the line. If treated as wood and steel, or our 'property', they will also be lost to time.