The militarization of the IRS and other federal agencies is still happening quickly and dangerously.
Legitimate elected leaders would take immediate action to demilitarize those organizations.
IRS and The Hands of Tax Collectors
The story is told in a new report by the oversight organization Open The Books.
There are now more federal agents with the ability to make arrests and possess firearms (200,000) than there are American Marines (186,000).
Since 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services has spent $85,000 on ballistic plates and body armor and $400,000 on tactical warfare gear.
It has roughly 500 armed agents at work. It has spent $154 million on weapons, ammo, and gear with a military aesthetic since 2006.
The figures are significantly higher at the IRS, which naturally has the ability to seize property from taxpayers but is virtually insulated from appeals and reluctant to address even justified complaints.
It currently has 2,100 armed agents working for it, and 600 more are soon to be added. Additionally, it bought 3,000 units of tactical holsters for weapons with optical sights and weapons lighting systems that are compatible with optics.
As I originally remarked back in 2010, the overarming of domestic government agencies has been a concern for a while, occasionally with disastrous results for innocent victims.
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Alarming Growth of Armed Federal Agents Across Agencies
The number of armed personnel employed by the IRS, HHS, Postal Inspection Service, Departments of Agriculture, Labor, and Veterans Affairs, Bureaus of Land Management and Indian Affairs, Environmental Protection Agency, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Small Business Administration, and even the Railroad Retirement Board continues to astound.
The threat to ordinary people’s civil liberties is also getting worse, as the most recent Open The Books report makes clear.
Supporting the neighborhood police’s ongoing efforts and skills is a good idea. It’s awful to live in a police state that is nationalized.
Armed workers for domestic government agencies ought to be the exception rather than the usual, with stringent guidelines and consistent duties to justify their employment. The exists if not.
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