Something you probably don’t know: IRS agents have guns, don’t shoot straight.

Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform and a regular guest on KABC’s Mottek on Money (listen to the podcast below) , revealed a what may be a surprise: Some IRS agents are issued guns, and occasionally injure themselves. From the Americans for Tax reform website:

President Biden’s push to increase the size and power of the IRS has significant criminal justice ramifications. The agency has a long and poor track record of misusing service weapons and ensuring agents receive the required firearms training. This failure to follow basic procedures puts American lives and property in danger.

According to a report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), special agents at the IRS Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI) accidentally fired their weapons more often than they intentionally fired them:

“According to documentation provided by all 26 CI field offices, the NCITA, and the TIGTA OI, there were a total of eight firearm discharges classified as intentional use of force incidents and 11 discharges classified as accidental during FYs 2009 through 2011.”

Additionally, the audit found that that some special agents did not meet all of the firearms training or qualification requirements:

“Field office management did not always take consistent and appropriate actions when a special agent failed to meet the requirements because the guidance is vague. In addition, there is no national-level review of firearms training records to ensure that all special agents meet the qualification requirements.”

This lackadaisical approach to firearm safety has led to easily preventable accidents. The Inspector General cryptically references accidental discharges that caused “property damage or personal injury”:

“In three of the four accidental discharges that were not reported, the accidental discharges may have resulted in property damage or personal injury.”