Disarming Regulators

When stuff hits the fan around these parts, an entire army of heavily armed and tactically-trained law enforcement personnel appear almost out of no where, usually in black, unmarked SUVs. That’s just at the local level. I’ve seen SAPD SWAT, a DPS team, and maybe some paramilitary dressed folks from the Sheriff, too. There’s a great amount of firepower lurking among us that most have never seen or heard.

As long as the power to deploy that kind of power is in good hands, it poses no threat to the law-abiding citizen. In fact, when some malcontent flies off the handle in Grape Creek, citizens are, more likely than not, happy to know that we have this kind of local law enforcement capability. And, for the most part, the firepower is controlled through elections: We elect our governor (DPS), our sheriff (TGCSO) and police chief (SAPD).

But when the federal bureaucracies, including the US Post Office have SWAT teams, we citizens should feel more threatened by them. Enter U.S. Congressman Chris Stewart of Utah. He has authored HR 4934: The Regulatory Agency Demilitarization Act.  Proposed on June 23, the "RAD Act" already has 30 co-sponsors.  It specifically removes law enforcement gun-toting powers from all federal Inspector General Agents, such as those of the IRS, the EPA, the Post Office, Forest Service, dozens in all.

In recent years, numerous federal regulatory agencies – including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Food and Drug Agency and the Department of Education – have created their own special law enforcement teams to conduct their own arrests and raids. This is in part a product of the 2002 Homeland Security Act, which gave most Offices of Inspector General arrest and firearm authority. (source)

I think our Sheriff and DPS can handle whatever may happen in Grape Creek. They don’t need the U.S. Post Office SWAT team to augment.