I absolutely agree and understand your point Boris. We have every right to be aware of and scale the level of armament that our government representatives have. But I see nothing at all out of line or out of the ordinary with the USDA's request to arm employees with pistol caliber submachineguns.
I get very tired of the conservative/libertarian side's alarmism and thinly veiled implications that these completely ordinary and run of the mill acquisitions of small caliber weapons or ammunition are somehow an indication of or related to an impending Obama plot to enslave Americans in the FEMA camps. Just like the whole "ZOMG 50 TRILLION ROUNDS OF SUPER LETHAL HOLLOW POINT ROUNDS" fiasco last year. Which, what do you know, was completely overblown and meaningless.
The U.S. Forest Service is run by the USDA. Along with a gigantic number of additional functions that I don't have the time or desire to even try to learn about right now. They have to cover huge swaths of land, sometimes occupied by dangerous criminals or members of foreign terrorist organizations growing drugs, and employ a large number of sworn peace officers.
Whether or not these functions being delegated to the USDA is an ideal libertarian or freedom-oriented system is another discussion. But right now, they are. So they have every reason to use the types of small arms that are in common use with the vast majority of law enforcement agencies across the country.
And I find it ironic that a certain type of gun like a fully automatic weapon provokes this reaction, while other types of firearms most likely would not. We all know that the NFA is absurd, and I think we essentially all agree that it should be repealed. The mechanical difference and practical lethality of a semi-automatic vs a fully automatic firearm is almost negligible in most circumstances not involving full scale military style combat. So why are we getting all flipped out and acting like "ZOMG MACHINEGUNS" in the hands of trained government officials in the course of their lawful duties are somehow something to be concerned about? They are no deadlier or more useful in government oppression than any other type of modern arms.
I realize this is a part of a greater debate about the size and scope of the federal government, which is a completely legitimate debate, and I'd probably be right in the same camp as most of you when it comes to slashing a lot of federal organizations. But as it is right now, the USDA handles large scale law enforcement operations. So it's like, they are going to have guns, and I would go so far as to say they absolutely should have guns as long as they are a part of those operations.
