TOP 10 TAKEAWAYS

1. One hundred and three federal agencies outside of the Department of Defense spent $2.7 billion on guns, ammunition, and military-style equipment between fiscal years 2006 and 2019 (inflation adjusted). Nearly $1 billion ($944.9 million) was spent between fiscal years 2015 and 2019 alone.

2. Non-military federal spending on guns and gear averaged $192 million per year since 2006 (inflation adjusted). In the last two years, spending averaged $173 million, about ten-percent below the long-term average.

3. We estimate that there are now more federal officers with arrest and firearm authority (200,000 ) than U.S. Marines (182,000).

 

4. Seventy-six administrative agencies spent $110.6 million on guns, ammunition, and military-style equipment between fiscal years 2015 and 2019.

Examples included the Internal Revenue Service, Veterans Affairs, Executive Office of the President, Small Business Administration (SBA), Smithsonian Institution, Social Security Administration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Animal Health Inspection Service.

5. Twenty-seven traditional law enforcement agencies spent $800 million on guns, ammunition, and military-style equipment during fiscal years 2015 and 2019.

Examples included the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Customs and Border Patrol; Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Bureau of the Prisons; U.S. Marshals Service; Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; and Secret Service.

6. Weak controls: Department of Homeland Security lost 228 guns in the most recent audited three-year period. DHS also lost 1,889 badges and 25 secure immigration stamps.

7. Use-It-Or-Lose-It year-end spending spree: $1.5 million spent by non-military, non-traditional law enforcement agencies on guns, ammunition, and military-style equipment in the last month of fiscal year 2019.  Spending by Veterans Affairs (VA) Included $650,964 worth of ammunition, handguns, and a “military police long gun program” with AR15-style weaponry.

8. The Internal Revenue Service, with its 2,159 “Special Agents,” spent $21.3 million on guns, ammunition and military-style equipment between fiscal years 2006 and 2019. The agency stockpiled 4,500 guns and five million rounds of ammunition.

9. The VA spent $25.5 million including 11 million rounds of ammunition since 2010. The VA has 3,957 law enforcement officers guarding medical centers.

10. Since 2006, federal agencies spent $355,775 on paintball equipment, $4.4 million on grenades/launchers, $7.9 million on unmanned vehicles/aircraft, $8.75 million on projectiles, $11 million on buckshot, and $37.6 million on Tasers.