Thursday, June 13, 2013

IRS agents being trained with semi-automatics?

I had another post scheduled for today, all correctly set, and it didn't  print for some reason...sorry about that.  But, not really, because this story is something that needs publication.

Apparently, there are law-enforcement parts of the IRS who carry weapons.  That seems odd in itself, but is the AR-15 the gun to use?  Is this the type of thing the government just bought billions of rounds of ammunition for?  Is this silly, and Rep Jeff Duncan is jumping to conclusions?

What do you think?   Could you look into it, too, and let me know?
Is this another thing where we'll brush it off as "oh, some agents have always been armed..." and we should have paid attention?   If this was widespread in the IRS and larger numbers of employees are being trained, wouldn't SOME IRS employees find it odd and report it? 


What's up?

Z



30 comments:

Constitutional Insurgent said...

Nearly every federal agency has an enforcement/investigative arm. Should they? Perhaps not. But we've allowed that to occur over the years.

Do they need ARs? Likely not. But as with the general militarization of our local and state law enforcement agencies, we've allowed it to occur.

Being a staunch gun rights advocate, the fact that these agents have ARs [just like almost every other agency] doesn't bother me especially. The AR is the scary-black-rifle-boogeyman of the gun control cabal. But we know that it's function is inflated and demonized by those who won't admit that there is very little difference compared to less scary looking firearms.

Z said...

CI..thanks for that input.
I think it's how widespread the training is that needs to be confirmed. If certain enforcement agents have to have guns, I suppose that makes sense, though it seems a little drastic to me.

The problem is all these things add up...or don't, hopefully.
Remember that story which disappeared about 3 days after it came out, that our gov't had bought billions of rounds of ammunition?
And then, a friend called and said his army brother in AZ told him they can't train because they have no ammo. This stuff makes us pause, I'd hope.

Ducky's here said...

They should probably use an ACR.

More accurate and easily modified.

Anonymous said...

So, is everybody in government now a cop, too? Not good!

Constitutional Insurgent said...

Z - The ammo shortage at Ft Huachuca could have a multitude of reasons behind it; from ordering, to allocation by unit, to ammo budget, etc..

Huachuca isn't at the same tier for gunslingers, as Ft Bragg or other locations....generally speaking.

Unknown said...

The purpose of IRS is law enforcement. We refer to them as Treasury Agents. They carry guns. Did anyone think IRS Agents exist to "help us?"

Yet, there remain several interesting issues: Social Security Administration purchased 200,000 rounds of .357 hollow point ammunition to quell disturbances by rowdy elderly. DHS purchased 1.5 billion rounds of ammunition and MRAP vehicles to protect us against … well, I’m not sure. So then, connecting the dots, we no longer allow the FBI to pursue investigations of suspected terrorists within mosques, but do target millions of innocent Americans and provide armored vehicles to the least competent federal agency in our entire history.

It is not a confidence-building situation, is it?

Louis H. said...

You’re lucky. Tax agents in my country still use blowguns.

Z said...

CI...I don't know what base, but that doesn't sound like the name.
Can you tell me why they're having to drive their own cars on army business and not being reimbursed?

Jack...exactly.


Louis! How awful!

Z said...

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/rubio-m-done-immigration-bill-includes-gay-couple-160223193.html

Do you all understand that if the part about gay immigrants being listed with the same rights as any families is included in the immigration bill (the Dems are trying to get this in), Rubio "is done" with the bill? As he says "it's complicated enough already"

Is this what the Left is doing to make sure it doesn't pass? Because, if it does not, it will be blamed on Republicans and NOBODY will hear why. OR the media will make a huge deal about it and the Lefties will say "See? they hate gays and that's why this bill didn't pass again" AS IF

I don't care WHAT you all feel about Rubio's immigration bill, this is fascinating; dirty politics at work, in my opinion.

Constitutional Insurgent said...

Z - Huachuca is the only major Army installation in AZ....could be Yuma Proving Grounds, they have some Army there as well.

"Can you tell me why they're having to drive their own cars on army business and not being reimbursed?"

That would really depend on what the business is. The Joint Travel Regulation [JTR] covers reimbursement for driving one's privately owned vehicle, but usually trips under 50 miles are not reimbursed.

Anonymous said...

Z,
The Dept. of the Treasury has two very large enforcement sections, Secret Service and the ATF. This is a disturbing trend to me. There are more and more quasi-military agencies being bred within the executive branch. The Executive has more firepower than most countries. Hmmm.

JonBerg said...

AR-15,.223 Ammo is expensive and hard to come by, at least around here. I think that's just what [they] had in mind!

Constitutional Insurgent said...

I think the .223/5.56 issue is nationwide. I'm trying to pick up quantities here and there, but it's tough to find a decent deal.

Anonymous said...

Z,
I left out the word "domestic" as in domestic firepower.

Sam Huntington said...

Meanwhile, the IRS decided to cancel its purchase of spying equipment.

I'm not sure why the IRS was spying in the first place, but at least we know they won't do it any more.

By the way, is anyone interested in a bridge?

Z said...

Well, Sam, one MIGHT say "the jig is up" and the IRS got nervous that this would be construed as wrong so they canceled...but I'm SURE that's not the case, right? :-)

Law and Order...is this rather new? I heard someone say that Obama's cranked up a lot of the programs that were started before him.

You know, I remember tin hats who said 9/11 was created by us for various nutty reasons; you've all heard that, too.
It can't be ignored that our freedoms have SO deteriorated since that, and are continuing to do so, that if this was the goal...well.......'good job'.

On the other hand, most of us know 9/11 was an islamist hit and Bush had nothing to do with it AND islamists are so cunning that this end result could have been their goal, too. "good job" to them, too.
I mean, I often say "what do you have to do to get respect around here, kill 3000 Americans?" because, suddenly, we were seeing muslim students demand that they couldn't study without washing their feet, muslim butchers wouldn't cut pork, etcetc...lots and lots of demands ...only after 9/11.



By the way, a friend emailed asking if I and other conservative bloggers ever worried about our blogs and surveillance. I used to have TONS of Wash. D.C. hits on my sitemeter but my site meter's now stuck on Dec 29 and I can't get it to update...so I don't know anymore, but I'm NOT nervous about it.
1. I figure if they did any indepth check, they'd find me sane and "squeaky clean" as when I was checked because a rock band partner of mine was a very secret undercover cop and checked on me and my family and that was his final pronouncement.
2. I write far less anti-Obama gov't stuff than most do.
3. This IS a free country, right?

Right?.....................what?
Right? :-)

FreeThinke said...

This is the way THUGOCRACIES work.

Face it, we've transformed ourselves from a fast-fading semblance of a representative republic to a thugocracy in four short years.

They said, "IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE."

Well, guess what, baseball fans, it HAS happened here.

Never mind, you'll be all right as long as you keep your head low ,and do EVERYTHING they TELL YOU TO DO very very quickly and very very QUIETLY.

And won't it be lovely when we're not ALLOWED to bitch and moan at each other anymore?

What a RELIEF!

I can't WAIT.

No need to send in the troops, Blessed Leader.

I SURRENDER!!!! (:-o

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

Sam,

C'mon now. The Pentagon announced they were shutting down their media disinformation efforts in 2002.

(((Thought Criminal))) said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Not surprising, is this?

"Americans' Confidence in Congress Falls to Lowest on Record
Congress ranks last on list of 16 institutions; military earns top spot again
by Elizabeth Mendes and Joy Wilke

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans' confidence in Congress as an institution is down to 10%, ranking the legislative body last on a list of 16 societal institutions for the fourth straight year. This is the lowest level of confidence Gallup has found, not only for Congress, but for any institution on record.

Americans remain most confident in the military, at 76%."


In that case...we all trust the military...then why not have a Military coup? Just about every country on the planet has had one...and it can't be as bad as the perverts, idiots, thieves, liars and scum in Congress...can it?

At the very least we'll be confident that the military will live up to their oaths. Unlike the lowlifes in Congress...whom we're all disgusted and fed up with.

It's time for one damn big reboot.

Anonymous said...

"Americans' confidence in Congress is not only at its lowest point on record, but also is the worst Gallup has ever found for any institution it has measured since 1973.

This low level of confidence is in line with Americans' low job approval of Congress, which has also been stuck below 30% for years."


No kidding.

Z said...

You know, Imp, we hear those stats but we don't hear anything concrete and what to do now.
Great, most Americans have real doubts about Obama now..so WHAT?

Even BOB BECKEL said, the other night, that if he'd known about some of what's going on, he'd have had real trouble voting for Obama.
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTT?
BECKEL??


but, alas...all the polls and all the stats and all the anger mean ZILCH.

ugh

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

"Americans' confidence in Congress is not only at its lowest point on record, but also is the worst Gallup has ever found for any institution it has measured since 1973.

I'm pretty sure Michelle Bachmann is going to lead the fight against Obama any time now. Don't blink.

(((Thought Criminal))) said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Z,
I don't ever remember the feds being this aggressive. That said I retired just before 9/11. However, the understandable ramping up after 9/11 is now out of control.

My experience is that police agencies and the military will take all the money you offer. Give them more and they'll use it, most often to buy toys they don't need. We have very little oversight on these agencies and we now have various levels fiefdoms growing.

Cities fight counties, counties fight states, and states fight the federal government. Sooner or later something has to give. Obama has his class warfare. Americans are at each other's throats. Is that what he's after?

Thersites said...

If Newt Gingrich were President, we'd have had a moon base by now...

Kid said...

Apparently the IRS has had SWAT teams for quite a while, as this guy was special forces in the 80's I believe.

Kid said...

And what is the difference between an AR-15 and 40 cal semi-automatic pistol?

The pistol is much easier to maneuver in tight quarters and packs a bigger punch.

The AR-15 or more specifically, the .223 caliber(556 mm) round was created for the military with the logic that the ammo would be easier/lighter to carry and there would be injuries inflicted as opposed to deaths. An injury takes out at least two combatants since someone assists the soldier who was shot. Though that may not be the case with the muslim vermin we're currently engaged with.

Kid said...

Jack Whyte. +3 man.

Kid said...

And it's hard to get any kind of ammo outside of shotgun shells.