IRS has purchased $10 million worth of guns, ammunition since 2020 to militarize agency: Report
In accordance with an April report launched by watchdog group OpenTheBooks.com, the Inner Income Service has spent $10 million since 2020 on guns, ammunition, and different tactical gear in an effort to militarize the company.
The report revealed that the IRS and 102 different companies exterior the Division of Protection invested a mixed whole of $3.7 billion since 2006 – adjusted for inflation – on weapons, ammunition, and military-style gear. OpenTheBooks.com acknowledged that 76 of the 102 are rank-and-file regulatory companies, such because the Environmental Safety Company, Social Safety Administration, Veterans Affairs, and Well being and Human Companies.
“There at the moment are extra federal brokers with arrest and firearm authority (200,000) than U.S. Marines (186,000),” the watchdog group’s report famous.
Since 2006, the IRS has bought $35.2 million price of weapons, ammunition, and different tactical gear for its particular brokers. The company ramped up its weapon purchases in 2020 and 2021, spending $10 million because the starting of the COVID lockdowns.
OpenTheBooks.com’s report revealed a breakdown of the company’s current purchases, which confirmed that since 2020 the IRS spent $2.3 million on responsibility ammunition, $1.2 million on ballistic shields, $474,000 on Smith & Wesson rifles, $467,000 on tactical lighting, $463,000 on Baretta shotguns, $354,000 on tactical gear baggage, $267,000 on ballistic helmets, and $243,000 on physique armor vests.
The company additionally spent $1.3 million on unidentified purchases labeled solely “varied different gear for felony investigation brokers.”
The IRS already had 4,500 firearms, together with shotguns, rifles, and submachine weapons, and 5 million rounds of ammunition in its gun locker earlier than kicking off the 2020 spending spree that considerably bulked up its arsenal.
Biden’s Inflation Discount Act, signed in August, supplied the IRS with over $80 billion in further funding, which the company plans to make use of to rent greater than 86,000 workers throughout the subsequent decade.
Final 12 months, the IRS created a job posting searching for “Felony Investigation Particular Brokers” that will be required to “carry a firearm” and be keen to make use of “lethal drive, if vital.”
With 2,100 particular brokers, the IRS is the highest 50 largest police departments within the nation.
“[Criminal investigation] particular brokers have been utilizing weapons all through their historical past as they’ve persistently discovered themselves investigating essentially the most harmful criminals concerned in organized crime, medication and gangs,” an IRS spokesperson instructed OpenTheBooks.com. “Some of these instances are sometimes labored along side different state and federal regulation enforcement companies. Firearms and gear are additionally used for coaching functions. Particular brokers are required to coach and qualify for his or her weapons and should take part in quarterly trainings to take care of proficiency.”
The watchdog report additionally revealed that Well being and Human Companies has spent $154 million since 2006 on weapons, ammunition, and military-style gear. Earlier than 2020, the company had 8 million rounds of ammunition and 461 particular brokers. Moreover, the Workplace of Inspector Basic possessed 1,300 weapons.
The HHS instructed OpenTheBooks.com that it wanted the gear for brokers who take part in undercover work and supply help to regulation enforcement.
Like Blaze Information? Bypass the censors, join our newsletters, and get tales like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
