IRS agents training with AR-15's.

[DanISSELisdaman]

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/06/12/republican-rep-notices-irs-agents-training-with-ar-15s-during-dhs-tour-im-looking-into-the-issue-now/

[suncat05]

Okay, there is a reason that a few IRS agents have law enforcement authority, that reason being a Mafia thug named Al Capone.
There is a legitimate need for a few IRS agents to be armed, but not all of them, and truthfully not all of the time.
The IRS does confiscate properties and money, and to do so they must execute search and seizure warrants just like any law enforcement officer, hence their need to be properly armed and trained because some of the people they deal with are truly nasty people.
There is a real need for a few of them to be armed, and with the usual needed items, but beyond that, no.

[CitizenBBN]

Okay, there is a reason that a few IRS agents have law enforcement authority, that reason being a Mafia thug named Al Capone.
There is a legitimate need for a few IRS agents to be armed, but not all of them, and truthfully not all of the time.
The IRS does confiscate properties and money, and to do so they must execute search and seizure warrants just like any law enforcement officer, hence their need to be properly armed and trained because some of the people they deal with are truly nasty people.
There is a real need for a few of them to be armed, and with the usual needed items, but beyond that, no.

I would far prefer they not be armed and if armed law enforcement is needed they are accompanied by police/sheriff or FBI. The more agencies involved in something like that the less power is concentrated and the more oversight you get as it becomes harder for one agency to go rogue. Way too many federal agencies with the power of the gun barrel. IRS, ATF, DEA, FBI, long list.

The IRS has had that power a long time of course, great movie called Harry's War about this stuff back in the 80s, but I'm increasingly concerned with the expansion of armed federal agents. Clearly the federal government is increasingly above the law, and being increasingly armed is a bad combination. I would actually prefer we roll back the power of multiple agencies including IRS and ATF. ATF is a paperwork bureaucracy, they have no more business toting guns or managing crime scenes than the EPA, who is also armed. When ATF does a sting operation or something requiring armed security I'd rather a detachment of FBI be assigned. You get better trained people with the guns and it's harder for a single agency or department head to go do something stupid. Far from impossible, there seems little resistance to stupid in the federal government, but more.

[suncat05]

I most certainly cannot argue that point with you CBBN, and I concur. And I also agree that when the IRS would need that kind of law enforcement assistance that it should be readily available, and that they should pay for it as well. I'm sure they have the financial resources to do so, and I also agree that having another agency or two around may very well curtail any shenanigans that might otherwise be about.
I guess the main point that I was trying to make was that the IRS came to have firearms because of slugs like Alphonse Capone. Capone and his thug friends did not mind killing people, so the need for the IRS to have guns was very much real.
However, I still do see the need for a few IRS agents to be armed given some of the types of people that they have to deal with. Sometimes you just do not know exactly what you're going to encounter, so in that case it is better to have a gun and not need it, as opposed to needing a gun and not having it.
Sorry if I'm sounding like I'm playing both sides here, as I do see both sides, just attempting(and probably poorly at that!)to illustrate both as I see it.

[dan_bgblue]

Without further ado, I fully support the 2 preceding posts.

Did you know that field inspectors/agents with the OIG carry badges and guns? Trust me,I know