Speaking exclusively to Fox News, Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) announced a bill Friday to prohibit the IRS from exploiting taxpayer funds to purchase weapons.
The “Why Does the IRS Need Guns Act” was introduced after 20 armed agents from the IRS and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) raided Highwood Creek Outfitters in Great Falls in early June.
Agents reportedly took documents with personal information on customers who bought weapons from the business. Many took strong exception to this forceful action against a lawful establishment, and Rosendale was no exception.
He declared that Washington has “no business intimidating hardworking Montanans.” The representative called for such actions to cease and added that is “why I am proud to introduce this legislation to prohibit taxpayer funds from being leveraged against the American people.”
Rosendale visited the store after the unannounced raid last month and was told that 4,473 forms documenting firearms transactions were confiscated by federal agents.
The agency came under fire in recent months over revelations that it spent tens of millions of dollars on equipment to arm its agents. According to Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), the IRS doled out $35.2 million on guns, ammunition, and military-style equipment since 2006.
And there has been a strong surge in these expenditures in just the last three years, with $10 million in purchases since only 2020.
The new bill would require the IRS to transfer its accumulated arsenal to the General Services Administration (GSA) within 120 days of passage. From there, the weapons and equipment would be sold at auction to federally licensed dealers and the public.
Further, the measure would “transfer the Criminal Investigations Division to the Department of Justice.”
The representative’s proposal is aligned with another from Ernst that would prohibit the arming of the federal agency.
Meanwhile, the controversial raid sparked an outpouring of support Saturday for Highwood Creek Outfitters and store owner Tom Van Hoose. A rally was held in the aftermath of the raid that shut down the store for a day while the agents scoured the premises.
Van Hoose said his shop has been under surveillance for two years by the FBI, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, the state of Montana, and more recently the IRS.
“The fact that they think we make so much money as a gun business that they had to come investigate all the thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars whatever it is we supposedly absconded with, anybody that knows the margins in the gun business knows they are not that high.”
The owner said somebody “reported” his business, though he does not know who or for what reason.
He speculated the intense scrutiny is due to the types of weapons his store carries and opposition from gun control advocates.
On Saturday, Van Hoose said his shop has been gathering documentation and attempting to find an attorney who would represent him against the powerful IRS. “Being a gun shop, most attorneys don’t like gun shops. We had to go all the way to Denver to get an attorney.”
He does not yet face charges and said he is overwhelmed by the support he’s been given. A crowdfunding effort has raised over $23,000 as of Friday afternoon, though Van Hoose said, “it’s going to cost us half a million dollars to defend ourselves before the IRS.”
