By Steve Neavling
A Republican U.S. senator has announced legislation that would prevent IRS agents from using guns and ammunition.
Sen. Joni Ernst, of Iowa, introduced a bill that would “disarm the IRS.”
“The taxman is fully loaded at the expense of the taxpayer,” Ernst said in a news release. “As the Biden administration has worked to expand the size of the IRS, any further weaponization of this federal agency against hardworking Americans and small businesses is a grave concern. I’m working to disarm the IRS and return these dollars to address reckless spending in Washington.”
The bill, called the “Why Does the IRS Have Guns Act,” would bar the agency from obtaining new guns and require it to get rid of its current arsenal. The auctioned weapons would be used to cut the federal budget deficit.
Ernst said the agency has spent $35.2 million on guns, ammunition and other “military-style” equipment since 2006.
The IRS Criminal Investigation Division within the Justice Department would also be relocated.
The unit was created in 1919 as a way to dismantle major drug and money laundering organizations.
In fact, the unit, which then was called the IRS Enforcement Branch, helped convict mobster Al Capone in 1931.
The bill is the latest GOP attack on federal law enforcement.
Other Republicans have called for defunding the FBI after former President Trump came under investigation for his handling of classified records.
