In response to the unplanned raid on a local Montana gun store, Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., reportedly presented a measure on Friday that would forbid the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from using public cash to buy weapons for its employees.
After 20 armed IRS and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agents raided Highwood Creek Outfitters in Great Falls, Montana, earlier in June and allegedly took the personal information of customers who had bought guns from the store, the congressman introduced the “Why Does the IRS Need Guns Act” on Friday.
When Rosendale visited the location in June, he discovered that 4,473 paperwork documenting records of gun purchases had been taken by the federal authorities after the armed agents had abruptly shuttered the gun store.
In response to the current event, the Montana congressman submitted legislation that would forbid the IRS from purchasing, receiving, or storing weapons and ammunition.
Reps. Clay Higgins (R-La. ), Randy Weber (R-Texas), Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo. ), Eli Crane (R-Ariz.), Mary Miller (R-Ill.), Bob Good (R-Va.), Brian Babin (R-Texas), Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), and Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) are among the cosponsors of the legislation.
The proprietor of Highwood Creek Outfitters, Tom Van Hoose, recalls being astonished to see the gang of IRS officers walking into his business uninvited.
In March, a similar incident occurred when around 16 ATF agents from across the nation arrived to an Adventure Outdoors store in Georgia in order to conduct an audit and review the business’s records.
According to a 2023 IRS report, the only entity with the authority to look into tax violations is the armed Criminal Investigation Unit, which is the sixth-largest federal law enforcement organization.
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