The IRS is the only assault weapon we should ban

OPINION:

President Joe Biden is hiring approximately 87,000 new IRS agents, with a job description that originally said, in addition to being OK with using weapons, that they “must be willing to use deadly force.” At the same time, as part of his ongoing war on law-abiding gun owners, Mr. Biden is pledging “to ban assault weapons in this country.”

How convenient: That way he could take your assault weapon away, and hand it to the IRS agent coming to chat with you about your latest tax return.  

This is at least the second time Mr. Biden has been part of weaponizing the IRS against us, the citizens of the United States. Back when Joe Biden was vice president, the Obama administration of which he was the second in command launched a deep-state attack on conservative groups. During that assault, Lois Lerner—embedded deep within the IRS—spent years using red tape to muzzle voices speaking out in opposition to the Obama-Biden agenda, part of an effort that included using search terms like “tea party” to choose which nonprofits to target.

But that wasn’t enough for lifetime-politician Joe Biden. Today he’s going much farther than Mr. Obama by hiring 87,000 Lois Lerners in a move that more than doubles the current number of IRS agents, equipping too many of them with weapons, and sending them out to say “hi.” Despite an IRS acknowledgment that the language “was mistakenly taken down,” the original job listing stipulated that new IRS special agents should be “willing and able to participate in arrests, execution of search warrants, and other dangerous assignments,” as well as carry “a firearm and be willing to use deadly force, if necessary.”

Guns for me (and my agents) but not for thee, the President says. At the end of June, Mr. Biden signed the first major gun control bill in 30 years. Moreover, by his own admission, “I promise you, we’re not stopping there. I’m determined to ban assault weapons in this country. I did it once before and we will do it again.” Just last month, Mr. Biden’s ATF green-lit a rule cracking down on homemade firearms, a practice that dates back to before the founding of the Republic.  

Granted, at Gun Owners of America, we’re not taking this assault lying down. We’ve been busy, and in many ways successful, in defending the American people against these attacks on our rights. We’ve gone up against Mr. Biden’s ATF and helped fight off the worst of his attacks on homemade guns. We’ve fought against Mr. Biden’s Fish and Wildlife Service’s ammo ban on federal lands. And we’ve opposed Mr. Biden’s fellow Democrats in Congress who want to impose a towering 1,000% federal tax on semi-automatic rifles, pistols, and shotguns.  

Now we’re raising the roof on Mr. Biden’s plan to add 87,000 IRS agents, arming too many of them with the firearms he doesn’t want you to own.

Here’s an idea: If Mr. Biden really wants to ban guns, why doesn’t he start with disarming the tax collectors at the IRS?  

• John Velleco is the executive vice president for Gun Owners of America, a grassroots lobbying organization with more than 2 million members and supporters nationwide.