Much concern has been expressed about the dwindling condition of the U.S. military, but the purchase of weapons and ammunition for civilian federal agencies has been proceeding at a record pace. The question is why Washington has chosen to do this in the face of dire shortages within the armed forces and a lack of any significant need on the part of the civilian agencies.
The Open the Books organization has examined the issue, and produced a report entitled the “Militarization of America” The study notes that:
“Regulatory enforcement within administrative agencies now carries the might of military-style equipment and weapons. For example, the Food and Drug Administration includes 183 armed ‘special agents,’ a 50 percent increase over the ten years from 1998-2008. At Health and Human Services (HHS), ‘Special Office of Inspector General Agents’ are now trained with sophisticated weaponry by the same contractors who train our military special forces troops… much of this spending on guns, ammunition and military-style guns, ammunition and military-style equipment is redundant, inefficient and unnecessary.”
The key findings of the report are:
- Sixty-seven non-military federal agencies spent $1.48 billion on guns, ammunition, and military-style equipment.
- Of that total amount, ‘Traditional Law Enforcement’ Agencies spent 77 percent ($1.14 billion) while ‘Administrative’ or ‘General’ Agencies spent 23 percent ($335.1 million).
- Non-military federal spending on guns and ammunition jumped 104 percent from $55 million (FY2006) to $112 million (FY2011).
- Nearly 6 percent ($42 million) of all federal guns and ammunition purchase transactions were wrongly coded.Some purchases were actually for ping-pong balls, gym equipment, bread, copiers, cotton balls, or cable television including a line item from the Coast Guard entered as “Cable Dude”.
- Administrative agencies including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Small Business Administration (SBA), Smithsonian Institution, Social Security Administration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States Mint, Department of Education, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and many other agencies purchased guns, ammo, and military-style equipment.
- Since 2004, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) purchased 1.7 billion bullets including 453 million hollow-point bullets. As of 1/1/2014, DHS estimated its bullet inventory-reserve at 22-months, or 160 million rounds.
- Between 1998 and 2008 (the most recent comprehensive data available) the number of law enforcement officers employed by federal agencies increased nearly 50 percent from 83,000 (1998) to 120,000 (2008). However, Department of Justice officer count increased from 40,000 (2008) to 69,000 (2013) and Department of Homeland Security officer count increased from 55,000 (2008) to 70,000 (2013).
- The Internal Revenue Service, with its 2,316 special agents, spent nearly $11 million on guns, ammunition and military-style equipment.
- The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) spent $3.1 million on guns, ammunition and military-style equipment. The EPA has spent $715 million on its ‘Criminal Enforcement Division’ from FY2005 to present even as the agency has come under fire for failing to perform its basic functions.
- Federal agencies spent $313,958 on paintball equipment, along with $14.7 million on Tasers, $1.6 million on unmanned aircraft, $8.2 million on buckshot, $7.44 million on projectiles, and $4 million on grenades/launchers.
- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) spent $11.66 million including more than $200,000 on ‘night vision equipment,’ $2.3 million on ‘armor – personal,’ more than $2 million on guns, and $3.6 million on ammunition. Veterans Affairs has 3,700 law enforcement officers guarding and securing VA medical centers.
- The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service spent $4.77 million purchasing shotguns, .308 caliber rifles, night vision goggles, propane cannons, liquid explosives, pyro supplies, buckshot, LP gas cannons, drones, remote controlled helicopters, thermal cameras, military waterproof thermal infrared scopes, and more.
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Writing in the Wall Street Journal, former Senator Coburn and Adam Andrzejewski ask “who is all this equipment designed to fight?”
“The number of non-Defense Department federal officers authorized to make arrests and carry firearms (200,000) now exceeds the number of U.S. Marines (182,000). In its escalating arms and ammo stockpiling, this federal arms race is unlike anything in history. Over the last 20 years, the number of these federal officers with arrest-and-firearm authority has nearly tripled to over 200,000 today, from 74,500 in 1996.”
The answer can be gleaned from examining the actions of the current White House.
In the face of massive military buildups and aggressive acts by Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, President Obama continues to react passively. He and Secretary Clinton even failed to respond to the attack on the U.S. facility in Benghazi which killed Ambassador Stevens and other Americans.
However, from the start of the Obama Administration, an unusual fear of average Americans has been expressed and acted upon. The Department of Homeland Security under Obama appointee Janet Napolitano issued a report indicating that returning veterans were a significant threat. In the wake of the recent shooting in Orlando, Jeh Johnson, the current Homeland Security chief, warned of “right wing extremism” among American citizens. Following the massacre in San Bernardino, the President himself in his public address spoke of his concern with gun ownership by Americans. The IRS has been used to harass Americans who disagree with the White House. Attorney General Lynch has discussed criminally prosecuting those that disagree with The President’s view on climate change.
The disturbing reality is that the current Administration sees fellow Americans of a different party or philosophy as an enemy to be feared more than opposing nations. It can be seen in where the President seems most comfortable increasing spending on weapons, and it was openly verbalized by Ms. Clinton last October when she openly called Republicans the enemy.