Letters to the Editor |The Wall Street Journal | June 22, 2016

None of the agencies being armed and trained are considered military, so they can be used to enforce whatever policies a future administration may deem fit.

I am thrilled that Tom Coburn and Adam Andrzejewski have rejected the NRA’s position that more guns equals more safety ("Why Does the IRS Need Guns?," op-ed, June 17). I share their concern about the proliferation of guns in government agencies, and their conclusion that they will inevitably lead to senseless destruction and possibly loss of life. Their concern can, logically, only be heightened by the proliferation of private arsenals in the hands of untrained individuals, arsenals that have already led to more senseless destruction than those in the hands of government agencies.

I stand ready to work with Dr. Coburn and Mr. Andrzejewski to bring sensible regulation to gun possession for all Americans wherever they work, live, learn, play or pray.

Jim Coddington

Eastchester, N.Y.

 

The authors show a lack of appreciation for the responsibilities of the Energy Department (DOE) regarding our nuclear-weapons infrastructure. They state: "Other paper-pushing federal agencies with firearm-and-arrest authority that have expanded their arsenals since 2006 include the . . . Energy Department."

While paper is pushed at the DOE, much of that paper is highly classified. Additionally, the DOE is responsible for our national laboratories and our nuclear-security complex, including nuclear-weapons labs, such as Los Alamos and the nuclear Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. These DOE facilities have more than highly classified information; they also house our nation’s inventory of weapons-grade fissile material that is not deployed in warheads. The scope of activities at the Y-12 plant is stated on its website: "Every weapon in the U.S. nuclear stockpile has components manufactured, maintained or ultimately dismantled by Y-12."

Who among us wouldn’t want such a facility to be defended with the most sophisticated security and weapons available?

Richard Redano

Knoxville, Tenn.

 

The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 was enacted to limit the powers of the federal government in using federal military personnel to enforce domestic policies within the U.S. None of the agencies being armed and trained are considered military, so they can be used to enforce whatever policies any future administration may deem fit.

These armed agencies are a threat to our liberty.

Ron Ezell

Troy, Mich.

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