Why is the federal government stockpiling military weapons for its non-military agencies?

A new report by a government watchdog group has tracked the weaponry expenditures of the federal government and found $1.48 billion in “military-style equipment” purchases for 67 of its non-military agencies.

That means the Food and Drug Administration, the Social Security Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the United States Mint, the Department of Education, the Small Business Administration, et al. are now fully stocked with guns, ammo, and other military equipment, according to the Open the Books report “The Militarization of America.”

The key findings were for fiscal years 2006-2014. During that time, as the report notes, “non-military federal spending on guns and ammunition jumped 104 percent from $55 million (FY2006) to $112 million (FY2011).”

The IRS alone purchased $11 million worth of weapons and ammunition, which as Weasel Zippers notes, is an “awful lot of weapons for an agency that has limited need.”

Another agency with limited need is the Environmental Protection Agency, which spent over $3 million on guns and ammo. Then there are the other federal agencies spending millions on paintball equipment, Tasers, projectiles, unmanned aircraft, and grenades and launchers. This doesn’t sound at all like necessary equipment outside of war.

And isn’t it interesting that the Obama administration feels the need to stock up on all of this military weaponry while telling the rest of us we have no business purchasing rifles like the AR-15?

Similarly to Open the Books, whose motivation is letting taxpayers know exactly how their money is being spent, Citizens for Self-Governance understands the concern for the future of the country, especially in light of an out-of-control government spending our money on the very things they say we can’t have. The federal government is limiting us, when the Constitution says we are the ones that should be limiting them.

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