Disarming Americans is a sore subject around these parts, as it should be, considering the natural right to self-preservation recognized by our Constitution. But, something tells me today’s disarmament discussion may be better received, as this time it is focused on the federal government, specifically the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Republican Representative Barry Moore from Alabama has introduced a bill that seeks to disarm the agency aptly named the Why Does The IRS Need Guns Act.
Before we get into the details of the bill, we must discuss the weaponization of the IRS, particularly during the agency’s COVID-era 50-state hiring spree, which saw the addition of 87,000 new agents and an arsenal that has left Americans wondering to what extent the tax collector might be exercising its authority. According to Open The Books, where a petition has been posted to disarm the IRS, the agency has spent $35.2 million on guns, ammunition, and military-style equipment since 2006, including $10 million between 2020 and 2021 to arm special agents with arrest powers.
Expenditures…
-Smith & Wesson M&P 15 Rifles: $474,000
-Beretta 1301 Tactical Shotguns: $463,000
-Body Armor: $243,000
-Ammunition: $2.3 million
-Ballistic Riot Shields: $1.2 million
This equipment constitutes less than half of the $10 million, which is spread out among tactical lighting, gear bags, holsters, ballistic helmets, optics,andother line-items, including a conspicuous $1.3 million for “various other gear for criminal investigation agents.”
Before 2020, the IRS had managed to stockpile 5 million rounds of ammunition and 4,500 firearms for its 2,159 special agents, including 621 pump-action and semi-automatic shotguns, 539 semi-automatic rifles, and 15 submachine guns.
“The IRS has consistently been weaponized against American citizens, targeted religious organizations, journalists, gun owners, and everyday Americans… Arming these agents does not make the American public safer. My legislation, the Why Does the IRS Need Guns Act, would disarm these agents, auction off their guns to Federal Firearms License Owners, and sell their ammunition to the public. The only thing IRS agents should be armed with are calculators,” according to Moore.
The Why Does the IRS Need Guns Act would force the IRS to relinquish possession of all the agency’s guns and ammunition to the General Services Administration (GSA). GSA would then oversee the sale or auction of all firearms, minus the machine guns, to federal firearms licensees (FFLs) across the country, and all the ammunition to the general public within 30 days. The bill would further prohibit the IRS from using appropriated funds to obtain or maintain any firearms or ammunition.
The new law would apply to all departments of the IRS, including the agency’s Criminal Investigation (CI) division tasked with investigating financial crimes like money laundering, tax-related identity theft, and terrorism financing, which would be consumed by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The Why Does the IRS Need Guns Act is cosponsored by Republican Representatives Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, Mary Miller of Illinois, and Clay Higgins of Louisiana.
“It is a shocking fact that the Biden administration spent over $10 million on firearms and ammunition for IRS employees. This is especially troubling in light of the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government’s investigation into the IRS which exposed patterns of political targeting and harassment by agents. I am proud to support Congressman Moore’s bill which rightly strips the IRS of its arsenal and transfers the Criminal Investigations Division to the Department of Justice. The Why Does the IRS Need Guns Act will ensure the agency sticks to its mission of collecting revenue rather than moonlighting as a paramilitary law enforcement agency susceptible to politicization,” said Congresswoman Hageman.
This isn’t the first time this bill has been introduced, as a previous attempt did not make it to the House floor. Representative Moore hopes this current effort will make it to the floor for a vote. The Senate, on the other hand, is a different hill to climb entirely, requiring a super-majority, something Republicans do not have to pass the measure to the Oval Office.
The hypocrisy is palpable with this one. The government has gone to great efforts to convince us that we do not need firearms to protect ourselves and our loved ones from the criminal element, much less its own tyranny. I find it curious, then, why the same government feels it needs a standing army with such an arsenal to collect taxes.
Everybody needs their own toys. Nobody can share. This is true of immature children, immature adults in their personal lives and at work and immature government.
It’s why we have so many overlapping agencies with redundant missions all performing below expectations and tainted with personal biases.
Or, for the more cynical take, a governing body that hates its constituents simply wants as many guns in sympathetic hands as possible.
The reality is probably a little of both the latter being a byproduct of the former.
DOGE it all. Rip and tear. Salt the earth. Send’em to the mines, Siberia, Ukraine, wherever so long as is doesn’t cost me anything.
No, thanks, I don’t want anarchy.
I want a functioning Executive that actually does what Congress enacts.
This “DOGE”/Yarvin plan to destroy the administrative capacity of the United States is just that: a plan to destroy the United States for the benefit of billionaires and capital.
It’s exceedingly obvious, and shouldn’t be anything worth wanting.
You really don’t need to cape for the ruling class to extract more value from the populace. 😛
Yeah because a giant and expanding administrative state has been a thorn in the side of billionaires. Excessive government spending helps the working class, not the billionaires. While we’re at it, I have a bridge to sell you.
Tax the middle 70% of population into poverty while the rest either is given a pittance to not riot or either absorb the cost without undue issue or bypass taxes via various scam nonprofits and foreign investments. Yeah great plan totally will not create a majority of debt slaves
I’m going to hope that this was sarcasm.
Gone very far to the left have you?, Socialist/communist?
Clueless?
I was planning to write a comment and then read this sentence at the end of this story which perfectly mirrors my sentiment:
“The Senate … [requires] a super-majority, something Republicans do not have to pass the measure to the Oval Office.”
If Republicans were smart, they would not waste 10 seconds on creating any bill in the U.S. House of Representatives which has ZERO chance of passing the U.S. Senate. Instead, Republicans would spend their time and effort working to create the super-majority that they need in the U.S. Senate to send bills to the President’s desk.
Until Republicans have a super-majority in the U.S. Senate, everything that they do is little more than political theater.
Or, they could make the Democraps do an actual filibuster, where they have to stand and talk continuously to block the bill. Remember Mr. Smith goes to Washington? Make them do that, not just say we’re going to filibuster. See just how committed they are.
This is true of any number of bills, including immigration law reform (whihc has been stalled for decades going back to before Clinton) and the current national concealed carry reciprocity bill.
I concur!
Because they’re have a law enforcement component.
That’s the answer.
Many government agencies have a law-enforcement component, and it’s hard to project the (legitimate) violence of the state without guns.
This isn’t a hard question or answer.
This person is virtue-signaling.
> The IRS has consistently been weaponized against American citizens
This is generally not true, is simply a culture-war talking point, and in any case the answer to it is more Legislative oversight of the Executive, not necessarily summarily disarming LEOs in those agencies.
If the IRS needs to arrest someone, then the FBI can do that. If the IRS secures a judgement against someone that needs to be arrested, then the U.S. Marshals Service can pick them up. There is absolutely no need for an armed IRS, and you know that.
I’m fine with agents carrying for general personal protection. But we don’t need to intentionally put them in dangerous situations. Let them be accountants. Let the FBI and Marshals handle the rest. This is nothing more than typical government mission creep and post 9/11 security state expansion.
Ah, how fun . . . jsled the half-wit commie is back to bore us with his stupidity!! Let’s take a look and see if the young Leftist learned anything during his absence.
“Many government agencies have a law-enforcement component, and it’s hard to project the (legitimate) violence of the state without guns.”
WOW!! “(legitimate)” is doing some SERIOUSLY heavy lifting, there!!
And notice how he elides over “Many government agencies have a law-enforcement component . . . “, without even addressing the question of “Why???” The Federal Government does, indeed, have a number of ‘legitimate’ law enforcement agencies – even the pathetic FBI. And the Federal Marshall’s office. And the Secret Service. And the Border Patrol. A few others. WHY do we need the duplication of resources and inefficiency of equipping EVERY federal agency that may happen to touch on ADMINISTERING a federal law with independent police power? IRS needs to serve a seizure order on a suspected gangbanger or drug runner? Call in the FBI to be your door knockers (or, better yet, get a court orders, and have the local cops do it, eh?).
“This is generally not true . . . ”
Well, golly gee, I’m sure glad it’s “generally not true” (although reasonable minds could certainly differ about that)!!! Why is it true, at all, you cretin??? And might the KNOWN proliferation of bureaucrats making it their mission to conduct quasi-legal jihad against citizens who disagree with them, spreading ACROSS agencies (IRS, ATF, EPA, hell even the DoD) not a worthy topic of concern??
OK, looks like he’s still a big-government loving idiot. Hey, jfool, where’s your buddy, MajorLiar, to have your back???
Sod off, swampy.
That’s nice now where in the constitution do we have any concept of Federal law enforcement beyond the Marshal service again?
Ok now do NASA. They have an armed wing. Last I read about them they were in the news for busting a lady for tying to sell moon rocks.
Among MANY other agencies.
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/full-list-of-armed-federal-agencies/
how does this newage site prune the comments from a thread/story from way back in 2010 (when Robert ran this once great site)?
It seems something like this could simply be done with an executive order. That of course could be undone by a future president, but it would take care of it for awhile anyway.
Gippers the simple solution is to merely accept the 2nd Amendment.
Oh! That’s right the 2A is too simple for the left.
Slaves must not be able to resist. Once you understand that motivation a lot of actions from both political parties and all of their financial benefactors makes a lot of sense be it NFA or PATRIOT
Why does the IRS need guns?
Why does God need a starship?
Want vs Need:
I want a gun in the event I need a gun.
I hope I never really need a gun. As I have said before, I don’t have any desire to harm/kill living things including snakes.
However, it is my desire to be prepared; therefore, I keep plenty of gas in my truck even though I no longer drive or have a license to drive due to eyesight.
The chief executive can certainly determine what his agencies spend their budgets on, to include what color drapes they purchase and what if any firearms they purchase/own. Send it ALL to the CMP which is the established outlet for fedgov.
Were supposed to believe the IRS GOONS HJAVE “539 semi-automatic rifles, and 15 submachine guns”? BS no bluecoated JBT carries and AR when for the same $ could have an M16/M4. None the less send all to the CMP.
Don’t forget the Dept of Ed. They have a armed “wing” as well. Now there’s a big WHY?
Someone along the line mentioned “defunding” does not require a supermajority only a simple majority. If that’s the case write it up!! Every damn thing!
JC most in the Dept of Ed are too feeble to touch a gun.
Oh, you meant Dept of Education not Dept of E Dysfunction.
Heel boy, Heel.
Them Dobie’s are some hot headed son of a guns.
Taxman.
If you walk they’ll tax your feet.
IRS+guns= a standing army in times of peace shall not be tokeravated
Biden delivered
Trump makes promises
That’s some heavy stuff man, what is it.
” Some Muai Wowwie but mostly Doberman.”
You mean we’re smoking dogshit.
IRS IRS IRS make America great again.
*BANG* *BANG*
Cowboy Up
1. The only armed IRS employees (other than some security guards at IRS facilities) are the Special Agents in Criminal Investigation.
2. If you move CI out of IRS to Justice, with all their stuff, what’s left to sell to FFLs?
3. CI had 4,500 pistols for 2200 S/As because they stupidly followed FBI’s lead years ago and switched to .40 caliber. Then, when FBI wised up and went back to 9mm, so did IRS. Which left them with 2200 pistols they can’t use anymore. And because IRS is scared of bad PR, like somebody committing a crime with a former IRS gun, it won’t allow CI to sell or otherwise dispose of the old .40 Glocks, they just sit around somewhere and will until Jesus returns.
4. The 9mm submachine guns (15) were bought to send with S/As on details to Baghdad and Kabul during the… warmer times there. Where the S/As were doing terrorism financing investigations and Stolen Asset Recovery (STAR) cases against former regime figures. Now, those SMGs are sitting around somewhere and will until Jesus returns for the same reason as 3 above.
5. They used to have a set number of 12 gauge shotguns, all assigned to offices, not individual agents. Everybody had to qualify with them, though, twice annually. Certain S/As of the (mostly feminine) variety complained because the recoil bruised their shoulders and was uncomfortable, so they got the AR-style rifles which don’t bruise shoulders or feelings. They’re also issued to offices, not individuals. And they bought the Binellis to replace the old Remington pump guns. Which are now sitting around until… you know the rest.
6. IRS qualifies its S/As twice annually but requires two mandatory practices, so 4 range times each year. Figure 200 rounds per agent per session, which is conservative, times 4 times 2200 and you’re burning 1,760,000 rounds per year. And they had 5 million rounds because of the stupid switch back from .40 to 9mm, with all those leftover .40 rounds now sitting around…
7. IRS Criminal Investigation put more mafia/organized crime types behind bars than all other federal agencies put together – including the FBI, where Hoover was busy pretending they didn’t exist.
7. We should be very, very wary of giving either DOJ and especially the FBI jurisdiction over tax crimes. We don’t want either, but especially not the FBI to have routine access to our tax information. And generally speaking, I think a lot of smaller federal law enforcement agencies, each with a narrow focus, is very much preferable than one or two big ones with broad authority over our lives. I’m not at all worried about the armed agents at the Department of Education or NOAA (the fish cops). I am worried about an agency that can investigate anything from domestic terrorism to misuse of the Smokey Bear logo. And especially about the FBI, which has abused its authority every single time it’s been given any.
These agencies that have their own police force is 100% unconstitutional.
As are most of these agencies.
Go to town El Cheeto and Muskmellon — time to clean house and clean it hard.
G-men, T-men, Revenuers too.
What is truly insane is that Democrats and liberals can’t get behind this. If this was brought by AOC, they would be falling all over themselves to protest in favor of it. Because it wasn’t, they don’t seem to care about the government arming up its collections arm with the scary black guns they don’t even want police to have. But it’s cool if the IRS comes and offs you and your dog because you owed $1500 in back taxes. You probably deserved it in their eyes
The hypocrisy of the left is disgusting.