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Why Does the IRS Need Guns?
WSJ ^ | 6/16/2016 | Tom Coburn and Adam Andrzejewski

Posted on 06/17/2016 5:52:00 AM PDT by RightGeek

Special agents at the IRS equipped with AR-15 military-style rifles? Health and Human Services “Special Office of Inspector General Agents” being trained by the Army’s Special Forces contractors? The Department of Veterans Affairs arming 3,700 employees?

The number of non-Defense Department federal officers authorized to make arrests and carry firearms (200,000) now exceeds the number of U.S. Marines (182,000). In its escalating arms and ammo stockpiling, this federal arms race is unlike anything in history. Over the last 20 years, the number of these federal officers with arrest-and-firearm authority has nearly tripled to over 200,000 today, from 74,500 in 1996.

What exactly is the Obama administration up to?

On Friday, June 17, our organization, American Transparency, is releasing its OpenTheBooks.com oversight report on the militarization of America. The report catalogs federal purchases of guns, ammunition and military-style equipment by seemingly bureaucratic federal agencies. During a nine-year period through 2014, we found, 67 agencies unaffiliated with the Department of Defense spent $1.48 billion on guns and ammo. Of that total, $335.1 million was spent by agencies traditionally viewed as regulatory or administrative, such as the Smithsonian Institution and the U.S. Mint.

[snip]

(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events; US: Florida; US: New York; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 2ndamendment; adamandrzejewski; americantransparency; ar15; banglist; fastandfurious; guncontrol; guns; irs; nra; openthebooks; paulcaron; secondamendment; tomcoburn; wallstreetjournal
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To: wrench
Don’t forget NOAA

That one's a real head-scratcher. Maybe they're setting up to be the enforcers of climate-related law. The Climate Change Police.

21 posted on 06/17/2016 6:27:52 AM PDT by Charles Martel (Endeavor to persevere...)
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To: RightGeek

I think every IRS desk should have a loaded gun. They should also play Albinoni Adagio on and enless loop from 9:00 to 5:00


22 posted on 06/17/2016 6:29:05 AM PDT by King Moonracer (Bad lighting and cheap fabric, that's how you sell clothing.....)
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To: silverleaf

To be fair the various fed agencies have been arming up for a very very long time. Theyve been doing so at least back to Clintons first term and very likely well before that.


23 posted on 06/17/2016 6:30:31 AM PDT by 556x45
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To: 556x45

And I BET they are all armed with assault weapons!


24 posted on 06/17/2016 6:34:23 AM PDT by originalbuckeye ("In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." - George Orwell)
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To: RightGeek

It’s tough for beancounters to eat out the peoples’ substance if they can’t flash an assault rifle every now and then.


25 posted on 06/17/2016 6:38:29 AM PDT by tumblindice (America's founding fathers: all armed conservatives.)
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To: King Moonracer
They should also play Albinoni Adagio on and enless loop from 9:00 to 5:00

Might as well screen Gallipoli non-stop while they're at it.

26 posted on 06/17/2016 6:39:16 AM PDT by semimojo
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To: backwoods-engineer

From the comments at WSJ.

Otis Copeland 13 hours ago
No, no, they don’t need guns.
They just need to remain calm and call the police, just like we’re supposed to do.
Besides, guns are dangerous and only the police and military should have them.
That’s what the liberals keep telling me.


27 posted on 06/17/2016 6:40:44 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT (Looks like it's pretty hairy.)
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To: originalbuckeye

On day one, after repealing Obamacare, getting rid of the department of education, shutting down the EPA and firing every manager at every agency, president Trump should declare that all government issued weapons with the exception of the military are to be turned in immediately.


28 posted on 06/17/2016 6:42:10 AM PDT by EQAndyBuzz (Radical Gay - A feminazi with a penis.)
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To: sailor76

I don’t know; if they are going to have money to spend... they might be better with weapons than a larger number of agents.


29 posted on 06/17/2016 6:42:57 AM PDT by aumrl (let's keep it real Conservatives)
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To: RightGeek

I don’t believe most of these agencies have the massive numbers of weapons reported purchased. I think the majority of these were straw purchases - intended for others. The question is for whom.


30 posted on 06/17/2016 6:43:15 AM PDT by CelesteChristi
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To: RightGeek

0bama’s way around Posse Comitatas Act ,,,,


31 posted on 06/17/2016 7:07:57 AM PDT by Lionheartusa1 ()-: ISIS is Islam without the lipstick :-()
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To: BigEdLB

The can’t even guard against H->’s minions stuffing records down their own pants.


32 posted on 06/17/2016 7:14:21 AM PDT by Paladin2 (auto spelchk? BWAhaha2haaa.....)
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To: RightGeek

IRS = Gestapo arm of the gov’t.

They haven’t been able to loose them on full force yet because they’d first have to do what Hitler did - disarm the citizens.

Can’t fault them for not trying - and trying and trying and....


33 posted on 06/17/2016 7:15:20 AM PDT by maine-iac7 (A Christian is as a Christian does - "By their works...")
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To: Texas Fossil

STASI, KGB, mullahs, SA Religion PoPos, #BLM, etc.


34 posted on 06/17/2016 7:17:51 AM PDT by Paladin2 (auto spelchk? BWAhaha2haaa.....)
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To: RightGeek
Why would anyone worry? I am certain that the Republican-led Congress will get to the bottom of the matter. /Sarc
35 posted on 06/17/2016 7:22:14 AM PDT by I am Richard Brandon
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To: RightGeek

When analyzing the why of arming the alphabet soup of federal agencies, just remember that in some clandestine organizations, there is the public org chart and the real one. An EPA SWAT team gets its paycheck from EPA. Who knows what they actually do and who actually commands them.


36 posted on 06/17/2016 7:43:40 AM PDT by marron
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To: RightGeek

IRS agents are not legally allowed to carry guns in the collection of income taxes.


37 posted on 06/17/2016 7:47:40 AM PDT by Stepan12
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To: RightGeek
...found, 67 agencies unaffiliated with the Department of Defense spent $1.48 billion on guns and ammo. Of that total, $335.1 million was spent by agencies traditionally viewed as regulatory or administrative, such as the Smithsonian Institution and the U.S. Mint.

Some examples of spending from 2005 through 2014 raise the question: Who are they preparing to battle?

• The Internal Revenue Service, which has 2,316 special agents, spent nearly $11 million on guns, ammunition and military-style equipment. That’s nearly $5,000 in gear for each agent.

• The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service spent $4.77 million purchasing shotguns, .308 caliber rifles, night-vision goggles, propane cannons, liquid explosives...

One of the biggest gun purchases was by the Social Security Administration... but I guess they're only doing one year... connected dots are getting really scary...

38 posted on 06/17/2016 7:53:40 AM PDT by GOPJ ("9-in-10 GOP outsiders say 4-in-10 GOP insiderds should STFU". - Freeper RoosterRedux)
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To: RightGeek

The government needs guns because it functions by credible threat of force of violence. The public consents to this by voting.


39 posted on 06/17/2016 7:55:26 AM PDT by Cboldt
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To: gaijin

...and these are all Americans training to oppress other Americans.

Does it feel like groundhog day folks? Seems we’ve seen this sort of thing before.


40 posted on 06/17/2016 8:16:22 AM PDT by servantboy777
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