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...
more
According to the report, the federal land management agencies spent over $24 million for guns & ammo.
1 comment:
For those of us who didn't do well in civics classes, please cite the language in the U.S. Constitution that amounts to a grant of law enforcement authority for federal employees. The little bit of reading I've done would indicate there should be no federal employee with what the author describes as "...non-military federal officers with arrest and firearm authority".
There seems to be clear language that legislative police powers exist as limited by the enumerated powers but no clear indication of authority for law enforcement officers. That indicates all these federal "LEOs" have been put on the public payroll either by Congress which has ignored the US Constitution or by the agencies themselves through their rule making which ignores both Congress and the Constitution.
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