The FDA is stockpiling military weapons — and it’s not alone

The Boston Globe ^ | June 26, 2016 | Jeff Jacoby

[DogByte6RER]

The FDA is stockpiling military weapons — and it’s not alone

AMERICA’S GUN CULTURE has been a subject of intense interest and controversy for years, with concerns frequently raised about shadowy militias, paramilitary extremists, and unstable zealots in possession of alarming quantities of explosives and firearms.

Amid the current din over assault weapons and body armor, consider one domestic organization’s fearsome arsenal of military-style equipment.

In the space of eight years, the group amassed a stockpile of pistols, shotguns, and semiautomatic rifles, along with ample supplies of ammunition, liquid explosives, gun scopes, and suppressors. In its cache as well are night-vision goggles, gas cannons, plus armored vests, drones, and surveillance equipment. Between 2006 and 2014, this organization spent nearly $4.8 million to arm itself. Yet its aggressive weapons buildup has drawn almost no public attention.

Does all this firepower belong to a jihadist terror cell? A right-wing hate group? A vicious urban gang?

None of the above. It is the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, an agency of the US Department of Agriculture, that has built up such a formidable collection of munitions. And far from being an outlier, it is one of dozens of federal agencies that spends lavishly on guns, ammunition, and military-style equipment.

A report issued this month by American Transparency, a nonpartisan watchdog that compiles data on public expenditures, chronicles the explosive — and expensive — trend toward militarizing federal agencies, most of which have no military responsibilities. Between 2006 and 2014, the report shows, 67 federal bureaus, departments, offices, and services spent at least $1.48 billion on ammunition and materiel one might expect to find in the hands of SWAT teams, Special Forces soldiers — or terrorists.

The largest share of that spending has gone to traditional law enforcement agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and the US Secret Service. But the arms race has metastasized to federal agencies with strictly regulatory or administrative functions. The Internal Revenue Service, for example, now spends more than $1 million annually on firearms, ammunition, and military gear, double what it was spending a decade ago. Since 2006, the Department of Veterans Affairs — which has been sharply criticized for episodes of fatal incompetence in patient care — has poured nearly $11.7 million into guns and ammo. Even the Smithsonian Institution and the Social Security Administration have each devoted hundreds of thousands of dollars to weaponry.

Incredibly, there are now fewer US Marines than there are officers at federal administrative agencies with the authority to carry weapons and make arrests. The soaring growth of this federal arsenal alarms Adam Andrzejewski, the head of American Transparency’s OpenTheBooks.com, which researched and assembled the new report. “Just who,” he asks, “are the feds planning to battle?”

Arguments long and loud about all the deadly firepower in the hands of private US citizens regularly engage liberals and conservatives. Far less notice has been paid to all the deadly firepower in the hands of federal bureaucrats. “The government itself has become a gun show that never adjourns,” remarks former US senator Tom Coburn. Dozens of federal agencies — entities that will never be called on to fight foreign enemies — now pack heat at unprecedented levels. Perhaps that, too, is something Americans should be arguing about.

Jeff Jacoby can be reached at jacoby@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeff_jacoby.

[DogByte6RER]

In California, Governor "Moonbeam" Brown just signed several anti-gun measures into law ... including one law that bans the posession of any ammunition magazines in excess of 10 rounds. Meanwhile, obscure alphabet soup agencies at all levels of government seem to be arming up for the Apocalypse ...

[rktman]

Totals a little more than I spent but working on it. :)

[rktman]

I think I heard that they must be turned in as well. Kinda like d.c. where you can’t possess one. Well, unless you’re some special tv brain dead urinalist. Then you can do whatever you want.

[Vendome]

[Hardastarboard]

Liquid explosives?!?!? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? Why does ANY non-military agency need liquid explosives?

[GregoTX]

[JBW1949]

Someone mentioned maybe these weapons are NOT going where the government said they are going...Maybe they are going overseas...

[George Washington Axe]

Well I guess I need to stockpile some more more too..... let the arms races begin

[PROCON]

"We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set," Obama said. "We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded."

[AnotherUnixGeek]

The Food and Drug Administration? I give up, why does the FDA require firearms?

My need for weaponry isn't nearly as extensive as that of unelected bureaucrats nominally charged with food and pharmaceutical safety - I just have the one gun and have no intention of giving it up.

[Blood of Tyrants]

I wonder how many will actually turn their magazines that hold over 10 rounds. States have passed laws requiring all “assault weapons” to be registered with the state. The estimated compliance is less than 10%.

[DogByte6RER]

Well ... from glancing at their home page they must have a “need” to tactically implode chimpanzees, bears, tiger cubs, feral swine and an assortment of botanical products and seeds, as well as pets being examined by the local veterinarian.

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/home/

[SaveFerris]

[ seem to be arming up for the Apocalypse ]

Wow. Sure sounds like it.

---

I don’t agree with John on all his interpretations and I wish he hadn’t mentioned Francis (he may not

have seen all his stuff). But this is kinda interesting.

“The Antichrist is Here” - Part 1

http://itbn.org/index/detail/lib/Networks/sublib/TBN/ec/F0NmFycjognHY2EYubEOn16KuK_JvzgY

Skip ahead to 2:55 to start - I like that they showed Obama with “New World Order” as the news caption.

http://itbn.org/index/detail/lib/Networks/sublib/TBN/ec/J5eWIwczrCqYzvgiePSFuSsbJv_WtPoC - part 2

[wrench]

I think they are all being sent to Hawaii. Isn’t the Aloha Snackbar in Hawaii?

[Yaelle]

This is insane.

We need to tell the President that as long as bureaucratic agencies are stockpiling weapons and explosives like ISIS, they should not attempt to take away one gun from the People.

At this point, our Constitution was more valuable when it was still attached to the sheep.

THIS MUST STOP. We are heading toward something worse than Nazi Germany and we are giving up our Gd given rights!

[Vinnie]

On one hand it’s alarming,. I want to know why.
but
I have a hard time believing an agriculture inspector, IRS lawyer or the like , with a wife, 3 kids, home in the ‘burbs is going to risk his life enforcing. Something he never signed up for.

[NoLibZone]

This is the first year I shall not put a flag out on July 4th.

[School of Rational Thought]

Nice muzzle control.

The one just to the left of emblem on vehicle appears to be pointing his weapon at the head of his compatriot (the one with his finger on the trigger).

[Redcitizen]

Snort. Haha!!! :)

[Redcitizen]

Put out the “ don’t tread on me flag instead”. It’s more appropriate.