Library of Congress Agents Ask for Their Guns Back

[MaineCWPtraining]

Investigators with the Library's Office of the Inspector General have raised a string of objections after Congress stripped them of their ability to buy and carry firearms in the fiscal 2009 omnibus spending bill. They could get their wish.
By Judson Berger

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Don't try to swipe a book from the Library of Congress -- library investigators might soon be getting their guns back.

Investigators with the Library's Office of the Inspector General have raised a string of objections after Congress stripped them of their ability to buy and carry firearms.

Though the office has carried firearms in the course of its duties for the past 15 years, and inspector general agents at other federal agencies do the same, lawmakers inserted language into the fiscal year 2009 omnibus spending bill, which was signed into law in March, that prohibited the library's officers from using federal funds to "purchase, maintain or carry" firearms.

http://www.freepowerboards.com/mainefirst/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6075

 

[pdm]

Maybe the National Archives should get some of these guards too. Keep another Sandy Burglar-- I mean Berger, out.

 

[terraformer]

WTF??? This was clearly deliberate so what purpose would congress have for this? It couldn't have been the cost? I wonder if the anti's are starting to disarm edge case agencies...

 

[Jose]

WTF??? This was clearly deliberate so what purpose would congress have for this? It couldn't have been the cost? I wonder if the anti's are starting to disarm edge case agencies...

I have a better question for you.

Why in the hell would an IG agent of the Library of Congress NEED a firearm?

99.9% of what they do is routine, non-violent crap. For that .1% they can call the FBI or one of the many other alphabet soup agencies that do carry guns to help them out. Or just turn over the damned case.

This is right along with USDA SWAT teams.......

 

[Jose]

I have an even better question.

Why is there a Library of Congress Inspector General's Office AT ALL?????

Does anyone here actually believe that the library is so important to national security, or that crime is so prevalent there, that a full time investigation staff if needed?

Whatever these people need in terms of investigations I am sure can be handled by a few FBI agents working part time for the library.

Give me a break.........

 

[goinveg]

I don't hear the agents of the Architect of the Capitol whining. They were also stripped of their funding.

As for why this is in the bill, that will be difficult to discover. This provision was in the introduced bill so it was put in during the initial "negotiations" for what to include. If it had been by amendment it might have been easier.

 

[SteelShooter]

I have a better question for you.

Why in the hell would an IG agent of the Library of Congress NEED a firearm?

99.9% of what they do is routine, non-violent crap. For that .1% they can call the FBI or one of the many other alphabet soup agencies that do carry guns to help them out. Or just turn over the damned case.

This is right along with USDA SWAT teams.......

Why do you need a gun? You can just call the police if something happens.

I would imagine there are concerns of violent attacks on any public building, if I had some responsibility for keeping the building safe, I would want to carry a gun as well.
They also do external investigations (Why? I don't know, but they do) of child pornography, fraud and embezzlement among other things. Seems like they should have them.

While investigating crimes in and against the Library of Congress might not sound like the most dangerous job, another official in the inspector general's office said most of their investigations take them off site, into some dangerous neighborhoods in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia and other states.

Though no agent with the Library's IG office has ever fired a gun in the course of duty, Schornagel said much of his agents' work "requires a firearm." He said there's always the chance a suspect could get violent -- plus the guns can be a deterrent to violence during searches and arrests.

"It's a big safety issue," he said.

The agents, while not historically trigger-happy, nevertheless brandish their guns on raids.

"We unholster our weapons whenever we enter a property," the other official said. "It's mostly for defense purposes -- most of these people are felons anyway."

I agree with your other question though, of why do we even need them at all, seems we have enough of other agencies that could fill the role.

 

[terraformer]

I don't hear the agents of the Architect of the Capitol whining. They were also stripped of their funding.

As for why this is in the bill, that will be difficult to discover. This provision was in the introduced bill so it was put in during the initial "negotiations" for what to include. If it had been by amendment it might have been easier.

I don't disagree with the question of why they had them in the first place. It concerns me more about why they are taking them away at a legislative level. Normally the executive branch makes these decisions for themselves and congress stays out of it. Very odd.

 

[Lynne]

Yep....I was waiting for it and you guys didn't disappoint me.

You - gun owners - are asking WHY THEY NEED A GUN????



I'm going to lunch.....

 

[terraformer]

Yep....I was waiting for it and you guys didn't disappoint me.

You - gun owners - are asking WHY THEY NEED A GUN????



I'm going to lunch.....

The question is not why they need guns, but why do IGs, whose daily tasks consist of auditing and investigating internal fraud (and that of contractors) and customer complaints, need service weapons bought and paid for by us. Imagine the MA DOR giving their auditors guns and the ability to buy anything they want without restriction while we suffer with the law. Same issue.

As you will note in my posts, I am far more concerned about the motives of a legislative entity limiting this. That they had been armed previously is a curiosity.

 

[dwarven1]

I have an even better question.

Why is there a Library of Congress Inspector General's Office AT ALL?

And why should they be armed? What duties do they perform that require it?

While investigating crimes in and against the Library of Congress might not sound like the most dangerous job, another official in the inspector general's office said most of their investigations take them off site, into some dangerous neighborhoods in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia and other states. Investigations into what?

Though no agent with the Library's IG office has ever fired a gun in the course of duty, Schornagel said much of his agents' work "requires a firearm." He said there's always the chance a suspect could get violent -- plus the guns can be a deterrent to violence during searches and arrests.

"It's a big safety issue," he said. But only for their agents, and not for, say, residents of DC?

The agents, while not historically trigger-happy, nevertheless brandish their guns on raids.

"We unholster our weapons whenever we enter a property," the other official said. "It's mostly for defense purposes -- most of these people are felons anyway."

Most of WHAT people? Again, who are they going after?

Yep....I was waiting for it and you guys didn't disappoint me.

You - gun owners - are asking WHY THEY NEED A GUN????



I'm going to lunch.....

Yep, that's right, Ma. WHY DO AGENTS OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS NEED TO BE ARMED?

I could care less what these guys and gals do in their spare time - they can carry bazookas for all I care - but when they are acting as AGENTS OF THE GOVERNMENT I want to know why they have to be armed.

I want the government to fear it's citizens, not the other way around.

 

[pdm]

I want the government to fear it's citizens, not the other way around.

They do, that's why they want to be armed.

 

[Knob Creek]

Based on what happened today at the Holocaust museum I bet these guys get their guns back.

 

[Zappa]

most of their investigations take them off site, into some dangerous neighborhoods in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia and other states.

Oh, like the UPS guy or the guy reading the water meters don't go into these same neighborhoods, on a regular basis, in the course of performing their duties? Why aren't they allowed the "priveledge" to protect themselves too?

 

[terraformer]

Based on what happened today at the Holocaust museum I bet these guys get their guns back.

IGs are not security guards. Not sure what happened yet at the museum, but IGs are like internal affairs. They are not public facing.

 

[cekim]

You - gun owners - are asking WHY THEY NEED A GUN????
I'm going to lunch.....

Might as well go "out to lunch", everyone else has

IGs are not security guards. Not sure what happened yet at the museum, but IGs are like internal affairs. They are not public facing.

The Dewey decimnal system and the black market it creates are the root cause here...