Article on weaponry various government agencies are collecting

[guruofhotrod]

Article from the Boston Globe.com:

The FDA is stockpiling military weapons — and it’s not alone

By Jeff Jacoby Globe Columnist  June 26, 2016

America’s gun culture has been a subject of intense interest and controversy for years, with concerns frequently raised about shadowy militias, paramilitary extremists, and unstable zealots in possession of alarming quantities of explosives and firearms.

Amid the current din over assault weapons and body armor, consider one domestic organization’s fearsome arsenal of military-style equipment.

In the space of eight years, the group amassed a stockpile of pistols, shotguns, and semiautomatic rifles, along with ample supplies of ammunition, liquid explosives, gun scopes, and suppressors. In its cache as well are night-vision goggles, gas cannons, plus armored vests, drones, and surveillance equipment. Between 2006 and 2014, this organization spent nearly $4.8 million to arm itself. Yet its aggressive weapons buildup has drawn almost no public attention.

Does all this firepower belong to a jihadist terror cell? A right-wing hate group? A vicious urban gang?

None of the above. It is the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, an agency of the US Department of Agriculture, that has built up such a formidable collection of munitions. And far from being an outlier, it is one of dozens of federal agencies that spends lavishly on guns, ammunition, and military-style equipment.

A report issued this month by American Transparency, a nonpartisan watchdog that compiles data on public expenditures, chronicles the explosive — and expensive — trend toward militarizing federal agencies, most of which have no military responsibilities. Between 2006 and 2014, the report shows, 67 federal bureaus, departments, offices, and services spent at least $1.48 billion on ammunition and materiel one might expect to find in the hands of SWAT teams, Special Forces soldiers — or terrorists.

The largest share of that spending has gone to traditional law enforcement agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and the US Secret Service. But the arms race has metastasized to federal agencies with strictly regulatory or administrative functions. The Internal Revenue Service, for example, now spends more than $1 million annually on firearms, ammunition, and military gear, double what it was spending a decade ago. Since 2006, the Department of Veterans Affairs — which has been sharply criticized for episodes of fatal incompetence in patient care — has poured nearly $11.7 million into guns and ammo. Even the Smithsonian Institution and the Social Security Administration have each devoted hundreds of thousands of dollars to weaponry.

Incredibly, there are now fewer US Marines than there are officers at federal administrative agencies with the authority to carry weapons and make arrests. The soaring growth of this federal arsenal alarms Adam Andrzejewski, the head of American Transparency’s OpenTheBooks.com, which researched and assembled the new report. “Just who,” he asks, “are the feds planning to battle?”

Arguments long and loud about all the deadly firepower in the hands of private US citizens regularly engage liberals and conservatives. Far less notice has been paid to all the deadly firepower in the hands of federal bureaucrats. “The government itself has become a gun show that never adjourns,” remarks former US senator Tom Coburn. Dozens of federal agencies — entities that will never be called on to fight foreign enemies — now pack heat at unprecedented levels. Perhaps that, too, is something Americans should be arguing about.

Edited June 27, 2016 by guruofhotrod

[blue109]

Or is that just the cover for all the weapons we are sending to jihadists?

[survivalshop]

2 hours ago, blue109 said:

Or is that just the cover for all the weapons we are sending to jihadists?

  Thats more believable . I never thought they were purchasing all that ammo for themselves .

[EngrBob]

Is Fast and Furious still underway?

[blue109]

Probably been downgraded to rapid and relatively  angry until after the election.

[MikedaddyH]

26 minutes ago, EngrBob said:

Is Fast and Furious still underway?

2.0 in Jordan... Jordanian govt had US Arms taken by jahadist which killed several american soldiers. This has been reported by Fox News.

[planeflyer21]

Saw an article a dozen years ago, highlighting all the 60+ federal agencies that had "tactical units".

Where's the pooping bull smiley?

 

[shepp]

3 hours ago, planeflyer21 said:

Saw an article a dozen years ago, highlighting all the 60+ federal agencies that had "tactical units".

Where's the pooping bull smiley?

 

??????? how's that 

 

good call blue! 

[sketch]

??!

[bubbas4570]

i also had heard this quite a few years ago, still haven't figured out just what all that much.....errrr,  "toys" (for a lack of a better word) is being used for.

 

Wait!!!! They have figured out that going out shooting and blowing stuff up is a GREAT stress reliever!!!!!  ....yup, that's IT!!!!!!!

[slugger43]

2 hours ago, bubbas4570 said:

Wait!!!! They have figured out that going out shooting and blowing stuff up is a GREAT stress reliever!!!!!  ....yup, that's IT!!!!!!!

Given their job security and benefit packages, and the steady growth in their total numbers, I have trouble believing these turds need a stress reliever.....

[jtallen83]

3 hours ago, slugger43 said:

Given their job security and benefit packages, and the steady growth in their total numbers, I have trouble believing these turds need a stress reliever.....

For anyone Liberty minded working for the federal government is extremely stressful. I wish the DOT would have a weapons training program for us!

 

DISCLAIMER: The above statement is my personal opinion and in no way reflects the policy of the DOT.

[Sisco]

DOT TAC SWAT....... Catchy little moniker there. Or is it something to do with sex? Or how about T and A's for the TSA?

Edited June 28, 2016 by Sisco