Guns, ammo, and tactical gear: Oh my! Here’s how much firepower Swamp agencies have stockpiled

[libertybele]

...hmm...I can remember people having trouble getting there hands on ammunition .... sub machine guns in the hands of the IRS??  For what reason?? 

Guns, ammo, and tactical gear: Oh my! Here’s how much firepower Swamp agencies have stockpiled


As you get ready to file those tax forms before the annual April deadline, it might interest you to know that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) currently has 15 submachine guns and around five million rounds of ammunition at its disposal.

And while those numbers might seem shocking to many, the IRS isn’t the only federal agency with a stockpile. According to a GAO report from December, a lot of federal agencies have a lot of firepower.

A recent article by Adam Andrzejewski, founder and CEO of Open the Books, a transparency nonprofit, points out some rather eye-popping procurements by federal agencies over the past decade.

The IRS currently has 4,461 guns, including 621 shotguns, 539 rifles, and those 15 submachine guns. The Department of Health and Human Services has over one million rounds of ammunition stockpiled for use.

The VA doesn’t just have red tape and long waiting times, it turns out. The agency also purchased almost 3,000 rounds for each of its almost 4,000 police officers between 2010 and 2017. The agency also has camouflage uniforms, riot gear, and “tactical lighting.”

In total, the GAO report lists “at least $1.5 billion in total” spending on ammunition, firearms, and tactical equipment between the 20 agencies it surveyed from fiscal years 2010 through 2017.

But while the title of Andrzejewski’s post asks why President Trump’s federal agencies have been stockpiling these weapons and ammunition, a great many of the purchases were made during the Obama administration..........

https://www.conservativereview.com/news/guns-ammo-tactical-gear-oh-heres-much-firepower-swamp-agencies-stockpiled/

[ABX]

LOL, this story again.. every two years for as long as I can remember.

[libertybele]

LOL, this story again.. every two years for as long as I can remember.

Ok ...then obviously this stockpile doesn't bother you; especially considering that 'they' are trying to derail this presidency and the recent push in the House for gun control??

[edpc]

Ok ...then obviously this stockpile doesn't bother you; especially considering that 'they' are trying to derail this presidency and the recent push in the House for gun control??

What bothers me more than the stockpiles and legislation is the potential gift they’ll get from the emergency declaration, if it’s upheld by SCOTUS. Some future Dem president pushes for new laws, doesn’t get the desired result, then declares a nation emergency on gun violence. It’ll be based upon years of statistics and a push from an energized base. Sound at all familiar?

[ABX]

Ok ...then obviously this stockpile doesn't bother you; especially considering that 'they' are trying to derail this presidency and the recent push in the House for gun control??

As pointed out every two years, they are mostly line items in a budget, not to hysical hordes.

[libertybele]

What bothers me more than the stockpiles and legislation is the potential gift they’ll get from the emergency declaration, if it’s upheld by SCOTUS. Some future Dem president pushes for new laws, doesn’t get the desired result, then declares a nation emergency on gun violence. It’ll be based upon years of statistics and a push from an energized base. Sound at all familiar?

I hear what you are saying.  A couple of thoughts though; Bammy, W., Clinton, Bush Sr., Reagan, Carter all declared multiple national emergencies and the left never made threats like they are now. So the threats and question of authority are coming now that Trump is president. 

One of my major concerns is we have two very conservative Senators; Cruz and Lee questioning this authority.  Are they questioning it because of the potential abuse of power or questioning it because the Constitution never granted this authority to the executive branch in the first place?

The National Emergencies act was passed in 1976 to cancel other national emergencies and to give Congress power to vote on that authority (if I'm understanding correctly).  So again, this has become an issue under this president.

I don't believe that a national emergency can be made to amend the Constitution.  That is what they would have to do in order to impose massive gun control.

[libertybele]

As pointed out every two years, they are mostly line items in a budget, not to hysical hordes.

No physical stockpiles and you know this how??

[edpc]

I hear what you are saying.  A couple of thoughts though; Bammy, W., Clinton, Bush Sr., Reagan, Carter all declared multiple national emergencies and the left never made threats like they are now. So the threats and question of authority are coming now that Trump is president.

Except a great many of those emergencies related to freezing assets or imposing sanctions on foreign entities. They weren't in response to failed legislation efforts. That's a huge difference.

One of my major concerns is we have two very conservative Senators; Cruz and Lee questioning this authority.  Are they questioning it because of the potential abuse of power or questioning it because the Constitution never granted this authority to the executive branch in the first place?

Probably a little of both. The framers expected each branch to maintain and guard their powers. The executive has been made more powerful through legislation like the War Powers Act and National Emergency Act. The branches were supposed to be separate entities, guarding against overreach of the other. Instead, they have just become instruments of party power over time.

The National Emergencies act was passed in 1976 to cancel other national emergencies and to give Congress power to vote on that authority (if I'm understanding correctly).  So again, this has become an issue under this president.

Yes, but again, this declaration stems from executive acceptance of a legislative option and dissatisfaction with the results.

I don't believe that a national emergency can be made to amend the Constitution.  That is what they would have to do in order to impose massive gun control.

We had massive gun control under the assault weapons ban. It wasn't overturned, it just expired, after a decade. This president publicly asked Feinstein to include it in the new proposals, last year. Fortunately, others intervened to quash it. It doesn't have to be a complete abolition of 2A in order to be both legal and heavily restrictive.

[Sanguine]

BKMK

[ABX]

No physical stockpiles and you know this how??

Because I his story comes out every two years for the past few decades and we've gone over this many times before.

https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/05/government-ammo-stockpiling-charts/315498/
https://www.politifact.com/oregon/statements/2014/jun/27/james-buchal/government-stockpiling-hundreds-millions-rounds-am/
https://www.metabunk.org/debunked-government-stockpiling-unusual-amounts-of-ammo-by-tom-coburns-gao-report.t3100/