There Are Now More Bureaucrats With Guns Than U.S. Marines

The Free Beacon ^ | June 22, 2016 | Elizabeth Harrington

[upchuck]

There are now more non-military government employees who carry guns than there are U.S. Marines, according to a new report.

Open the Books, a taxpayer watchdog group, released a study Wednesday that finds domestic government agencies continue to grow their stockpiles of military-style weapons, as Democrats sat on the House floor calling for more restrictions on what guns American citizens can buy.

The “Militarization of America” report found civilian agencies spent $1.48 billion on guns, ammunition, and military-style equipment between 2006 and 2014. Examples include IRS agents with AR-15s, and EPA bureaucrats wearing camouflage.

“Regulatory enforcement within administrative agencies now carries the might of military-style equipment and weapons,” Open the Books said. “For example, the Food and Drug Administration includes 183 armed ‘special agents,’ a 50 percent increase over the ten years from 1998-2008. At Health and Human Services (HHS), ‘Special Office of Inspector General Agents’ are now trained with sophisticated weaponry by the same contractors who train our military special forces troops.”

Open the Books found there are now over 200,000 non-military federal officers with arrest and firearm authority, surpassing the 182,100 personnel who are actively serving in the U.S. Marines Corps.

The IRS spent nearly $11 million on guns, ammunition, and military-style equipment for its 2,316 special agents. The tax collecting agency has billed taxpayers for pump-action and semi-automatic shotguns, semi-automatic Smith & Wesson M&P15s, and Heckler & Koch H&K 416 rifles, which can be loaded with 30-round magazines.

The EPA spent $3.1 million on guns, ammo, and equipment, including drones, night vision, “camouflage and other deceptive equipment,” and body armor.

When asked about the spending, and EPA spokesman said the report “cherry picks information and falsely misrepresents the work of two administrations whose job is to protect public health.”

“Many purchases were mischaracterized or blown out of proportion in the report,” said spokesman Nick Conger. “EPA’s criminal enforcement program has not purchased unmanned aircraft, and the assertions that military-grade weapons are part of its work are false.”

“EPA’s criminal enforcement program investigates and prosecutes the most egregious violators of our nation’s environmental laws, and EPA criminal enforcement agents are law enforcement professionals who have undergone the same rigorous training as other federal agents,” Conger continued.

Other administration agencies that have purchased guns and ammo include the Small Business Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Education, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

The report also highlighted that the Department of Health and Human Services has “special agents” with “sophisticated military-style weapons.” Open the Books also found $42 million in gun and ammunition purchases that were incorrectly coded.

“Some purchases were actually for ping-pong balls, gym equipment, bread, copiers, cotton balls, or cable television including a line item from the Coast Guard entered as ‘Cable Dude,’” the report said.

Open the Books appealed to both liberals like Bernie Sanders—who has called for demilitarizing local police departments—and conservatives in its report.

“Conservatives argue that it is hypocritical for political leaders to undermine the Second Amendment while simultaneously equipping non-military agencies with hollow-point bullets and military style equipment,” Open the Books said. “One could argue the federal government itself has become a gun show that never adjourns with dozens of agencies continually shopping for new firearms.”

_

Update June 23, 10:15 a.m.: Following publication of this article, Adam Andrzejewski, the CEO of Open the Books who wrote the report, pushed back against the EPA’s statement, and provided contract data to back up his claims.

“How can the EPA spokesperson deny hard facts from their own checkbook?” he said. “Alongside our oversight report, OpenTheBooks.com also released a PDF of all raw data. This line-by-line transactional record from the EPA’s own checkbook on page 113 clearly shows that in 2013 and 2014 the EPA purchased tens of thousands of dollars of ‘Unmanned Aircraft’ from Bergen RC Helicopters Inc which on a net basis amounted to approximately $34,000.”

“All of the assertions in our oversight report are the quantification of actual spending records produced and reported to us by the federal agencies themselves,” Andrzejewski said.

[upchuck]

At least for the time being, we, citizens of the USA, still have the guns.

[Gaffer]

Obama was telling us his plans back in 2008....probably even before. People under his control who could be armed and weren’t responsible to the Constitution or the UCMJ.

[GOPJ]

... domestic government agencies continue to grow their stockpiles of military-style weapons, as Democrats sat on the House floor calling for more restrictions on what guns American citizens can buy.

When people talk one way - - and ACT the opposite they're pulling a fast one.

Obama's not stupid - something's going on we don't understand.

[FlingWingFlyer]

I imagine the response from Clintoon and Obonzo when Ambassador Christopher Stevens was pleading for help taught them that they are more or less on their own. Nobody “has their back”. Clintoon is busy right now “fighting” for her freeloaders.

[Jack Hammer]

obama knows that the SA was always a powerful force - until he chopped it up during the Night of the Long Knives.

[polymuser]

What Hussein said July 2008: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt2yGzHfy7s

[null and void]

Obama was telling us his plans back in 2008....probably even before. People under his control who could be armed and weren’t responsible to the Constitution or the UCMJ.

Yep.

At no point in history has any government ever wanted its people to be defenseless for any good reason ~ nully's son

The biggest killer of mankind

Nut-job Conspiracy Theory Ping!

To get onto The Nut-job Conspiracy Theory Ping List you must threaten to report me to the Mods if I don't add you to the list...

“We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.” Barack Hussein Obama, 7/2/2008

They don’t call it a Civil Defense force, that would imply we need (or perhaps that we deserve) defense. The official name is National Civilian Community Corps.

I think of it as the NatCCC, or more simply, as the NatCs...

[polymuser]

And would we Freepers be visited if that night comes in America?

[Little Pig]

Are any of these now-heavily-armed agencies NOT part of the Executive Branch?

[Cboldt]

"How can the EPA spokesperson deny hard facts from their own checkbook?"

How? Easy. Lie. It's what the government does.

[LostPassword]

They are part way to their goal. There are still more citizens with guns so we need gun control (and confiscation) to get there. Hillary’s supreme court & EPA & IRS &... can do a lot of damage but there’s still a limit as long as citizens have more guns than bureaucrats.

The Oregon standoff is what gun control is about. They don’t want 100s or 1000s of those around the country like the founders intended if needed by THE PEOPLE when the government goes to far. I don’t agree with the Oregon standoff but that’s what gun control is about stopping.

[jsanders2001]

> At least for the time being, we, citizens of the USA, still have the guns.

And we will continue to keep our guns. "Shall not be infringed" is pretty plain spoken. The only way those rights could ever be removed is if the American people fall asleep at the wheel and its very obviousto me, at least, that the American patriots woke up from their slipumber incetey realized the enemy had managed to place on of their own in the highest office of the land. Americans come from bloodlines from rebel backgrounds who did whatever it took to remove the tyrant's foot from their throats. We have some of the hardiest stock in the world here. Let them try. There will be blood running in the streets.

[captmar-vell]

the obama creature has long stated it wanted armed brownshirt stormtroopers parading past on some future USA MAY DAY,

I wonder if they would’ve had to wear an “O” armband and do the hand/neck solute as they boot-shuffled past the dear leader in the viewing stands,

[JimRed]

When war with the bureaucrats is forced upon us, remember, primary targets are THOSE WHO GIVE THE ORDERS.

[Iron Munro]

When the Schumer hits the fan my money is on my beloved USMC.

Not on the Barney Fife SWAT teams from the IRS, TSA, EPA, USPS and other alphabet government entities.

Most of them can’t even do their real jobs correctly.

Gung Ho !!!

[Tenacious 1]

Obama's not stupid

Are you trying to start an argument? ;o)

[JBW1949]

Well, the FDA actually needs military firearms to combat foods sold after the “use by” date and the insidious fungi that threatens to overrun our nation...

The EPA actually needs military firearms to combat those horrific beavers that indiscriminately cut down out wonderful trees for nothing more than food and shelter...Not to mention the CO2 bombers known as Holstein, Angus, and jersey...

[TEXOKIE]

Exactly. My first thought was, well, they might be armed to the teeth, but what kind of training do they have?

[frog in a pot]

And would we Freepers be visited if that night comes in America?

We know you ask in jest. And, you may know that the FBI had lengthy nation-wide arrest lists made up prior to Dec 7, 1941 and took prompt action during the days thereafter. The issues were much clearer then and involved a major external threat.

In any event, O's martial law will make what Pres Lincoln did appear as a church picnic.

[Nailbiter]

... domestic government agencies continue to grow their stockpiles of military-style weapons,
One wonders if they are stockpiling assault weapons