...why the IRS feels the need to have shotguns for their ASSWIPR* teams.
But, I don't understand the need for the Department of Education to have combat shotguns.
Of course, I'm not all that sure I understand the need for a cabinet-level Department of Education, but that's a different rant.
Hey, I thought we were all about zero-tolerance when it comes to guns in education?
*Accountancy Special Services Weaponized Inspector Program Regulators
I suspect it has to do with how things are organized in regards to security for their buildings.
I.e., they have federal cops (like we have DoD police here at the fort, in addition to MPs) providing security, and under the arcane organization of the FedGov law enforcement structure, DoEd is responsible for procuring their stuff.
But every little agency having it's own armed security/SWAT capability is, I'm thinking, a rather inefficient way of doing business. Federal law enforcement and security could use a little rationalization, I'm thinking.
But, I don't understand the need for the Department of Education to have combat shotguns.
Of course, I'm not all that sure I understand the need for a cabinet-level Department of Education, but that's a different rant.
Hey, I thought we were all about zero-tolerance when it comes to guns in education?
*Accountancy Special Services Weaponized Inspector Program Regulators
I suspect it has to do with how things are organized in regards to security for their buildings.
I.e., they have federal cops (like we have DoD police here at the fort, in addition to MPs) providing security, and under the arcane organization of the FedGov law enforcement structure, DoEd is responsible for procuring their stuff.
But every little agency having it's own armed security/SWAT capability is, I'm thinking, a rather inefficient way of doing business. Federal law enforcement and security could use a little rationalization, I'm thinking.
http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/om/fs_po/oig/oig-orgchart.doc
http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/om/fs_po/oig/inv.html (look at the last bullet point)
Wherever our government hands-out grants and federal funding, there is fraud to be found. And while it is almost always a white-collar crime, whenever the Feds serves a warrant or subpoena, they always come in loaded for bear.
The Standard Operating Procedure that our Federal Law Enforcement Agencies go by, require for them to be at the ready for the worst. Whether that is in itself an overkill which tramples our civil liberties, is open for question. But as I see it, this procurement falls within their normal organizational mission and objectives.
Do you remember back in 1981 or 82 when those two FBI agents got greased because all they had were snub-nosed .38's, when they approached a drug informant? I'm sure that a quick Google search will flesh out the details. Anyways, from that point on, the Feds go in loaded for bear whenever remotely approaching an unpredictable situation.
That being said, that is the force projection doctrine that the Feds have. Until that doctrine changes, Remington and Mossberg will keep on doing brisk business with the EPA, Smithsonian and other sundry bureaucracies.
I see no need for the Dept of Ed to need shotguns. Any school hostage/attack situations will be taken care of by the fully armed, locked and loaded, local police department. I can think of absolutely no situation which would require a Dept of Ed federal employee to need a gun.
The weapons themselves aren't the issue, its the fact that everyone from the Dept of Education to the Dept of Government Kitty Litter changing has a SWAT team.
I tend to agree that its just foolish and a real waste of money time and resources.
A crowd of agencies means that no single agency head has too much power.
ED = Department of Education.
Existing shotgun inventory, certified armor and combat training and protocol.
Those suckers are *serious* about student loan repayment.
No, I think that Federal Law enforcement is over-militarized, as is law enforcement in general.
The reason I write this is to point out the Vonnegut story, "Harrison Bergeron."
I dislike bullies.
If you really need SWAT support, get the Marshals, FBI, or Secret Service to provide it.
Not every Federal Agency withsome law enforcement interest indulging their delusions of grandeur living out their Walter Mitty fantasies of Harry Callahan.
Or use local LEOs to for the service.
Does the DoEd Fraud Unit really need to be assaulting into buildings?
This is a first step. I believe we should all be all over our Congressmen and Senators about this.
There is ZERO justification for having the Department of Education.
Fix the latter and the former problem goes away. And we save a boat load of money
For *their* offices.
You know -- for when all those thousands of protesters demanding school vouchers decide to storm the building.
Your mileage may vary.
Personally, I'm curious about *when* the Department of Education bureaucrats entered the arms race, because that will go a long way toward answering *why* they did...
The Village People? LOL
I had one principal tell me privately that since the school massacre in Chechnya, several teachers were carrying. He didn't say if they had the weapons with them, or in their cars, but he thought it the height of idiocy to advertise a 'gun-free' zone since a perp isn't going to care about the law anyway.
While I am not a strategic analyst, I would far rather my son's teacher was armed, and knowledgeable in its use and had access rather than waiting for the cops to get there.
The high school, on the otter heiny, is totally....pc.
You may now commence firing tomatoes. I need to make spaghetti sauce, so just make sure they aren't too ripe.
Hell, Homeland Security apparently misplaces pistols, rifle, and shotguns all the time. Even the Secret Service seems to have a similiar problem. Unless they're giving skeet lessons, I see no reason for Department of Education shotguns.
So...when do we cut in to the DoE's?
I guess they could always try to sugar coat this with a good advertising campaign.
Couple of Remington 870 Express's with the tag line "It's for the Children! (tm)"
Yes, the second amendment's purpose is to serve as a check on tyranny. HOWEVER, that doesn't negate the utility of pitting would-be dictators against one another, or hamstringing the ability of any single agency to accumulate too much power in relation to the others. Citizens taking up arms is the LAST RESORT, the more barriers to things getting that bad (where the citizens HAVE to take up arms), the better-because once the shooting starts, history shows that regardless of who wins, the Constitution and the Citizenry lose.
This was a point that was stressed, oddly enough, back when I was involved in the so-called "Militia Movement" in the nineties. It's better to fight tyranny at the ballot-box and the board-room, than in the streets....
Now, it IS goofy, but-
Postal Inspectors have gone armed for a long time (a VERY long time, I remember seeing a surplus sale of Ruger Security Six handguns from their investigation service.) Dept. of Education? well.... an analysis of "What are they doing" probably is in order-My guess would be the arms are for non-school building security.
I still think that Accountancy SWAT teams spread to hell and gone is a bad idea.
And I was mostly goofing on the 2A thing.
It renders my perception of humour a bit...oh, less perceptive.
(That, and I'm kind of a dunderhead anyway.)
but following the path of Boq's note on federal responses, you'd think they'd have learned from serving a misdemeanour failure-to-appear in Idaho back in '92-I mean, it cost them lots of credibility, the life of an agent, two potential witnesses/bystanders, and three million dollars when the lawsuit hit, not to mention having the case thrown out.
For those who're new-I'm talking about a nut named Randy Weaver here. What should have been a slam-dunk warrant service turned into a multi-week standoff and killed two civilians and one agent (and the dog), one of whom was a minor child, and the other was holding a loaded baby-over a failure-to-appear in a questionable firearms case.
So...there's reason to be concerned when the Pros are screwing up like that, and we see Amatuers getting the same hardware and trained to the same doctrine (without having to meet the minimum standards the professionals would), on the taxpayer dime.
And that doesn't even account for the poor accounting practices of agencies like HLS, USBP, or TSA-losing firearms? when I was in a NON infantry unit in the early nineties, one piece of unaccounted brass kept half our battalion out on the range for a week until it was found. One would think that agencies tasked to law-enforcement would have higher standards, not lower, in accounting for things that go 'bang' and can potentially put holes in people.
The mind BOGGLES at what this says about our GS-ratings out there, particularly now that we have the Party in power that likes loose ROE for domestic incidents and ridiculously tight ROE for foreign incidents. (the goals of Waco couild've been accomplished by two guys in suits with a sherriff's escort, the Davidians actually called '911' during the opening stages of the assault....which was staged on the last day the warrant had before it expired after a month of fiddle-(Censored) around.)
The real concern I see, is that agencies whose job IS NOT to storm buildings or free hostages getting that week-of-training every-three-years killing themselves or some innocent bystander playing barney-fife with hardware they don't have a genuine need to have-which boils down to what John the Armorer said about rationalizing our Federal Law Enforcement types.
If I, as a tax-payer am paying for this shit, the shit better be in the hands of people who know what they're doing-and more importantly, know what they're SUPPOSED TO DO, including minding their backstops and pursuing less...bloody...means whenever practical or possible. (Hey, if it's good enough to saddle the DoD with, it's good enough to saddle the FBI with.)
They should also be held accountable for WHERE their weapons are. "Lost"? Weapons will stop being 'lost' when lost weapons translate into lost federal jobs, lost federal benefits, and corruption charges with convictions, or firing for incompetence.
Those entrusted with a badge and gun, must be held to the highest possible standards, because they are given a leeway in their actions that joe citizen does not have.
I remember when Lewis was locked down over 2/75th losing an AT4 during a FTX
My 1SG and sat in the Duty Office drinking coffee trying to figure out how you lose something that durn big....
For twenty hours.
The incoming Brigade OOD (an astute and devilishly good-lookin' young Captain) wandered over to where the highly-unhappy Brigade commander was morosely staring at the pistol, the magazine, and the two loose rounds, picked up the pistol, racked the slide, and out popped -- guess what?
Take a moment and Google "James Emerick Dean".
I remember while I was at uni a 'gunman' who was at the nearby hospital emergency (who from memory shot one of the patients) went into the university afterwards. It was a rather rapid lockdown but let's face it no one there had the means to stop him very reliably including security.
The police were really rather slow so I suppose a Dept of Education would prefer a faster response. This leads to the redundancy problems.
The important thing was that word got out, a couple of bloggers and commenters got together online and came up with a plan. Actually rather simple, one of the bloggers who lives in the area wrote a letter and printed two copies. One would be sent standard first-class mail, the second would be sent certified mail with return receipt requested. The only thing requested was a copy of The Final Report from the Investigation of the Death of James Emerick Dean.
I believe there will be a "Day of Reckoning" and *all of the Truth* will come out.