Firepower for USDA | Food and Environment Reporting Network

There was a bit of buzz on the Internet and in aggie circles over a USDA request for bids to supply 10 submachine guns, ranging from incredulity to waggish remarks of “watch out, varmints.” (One quickly learns USDA has its own bank, the Commodity Credit Corp; an air fleet, to combat wildfires; and artillery, used by the Forest Service to prevent snow avalanches.)

In this case, the .40 caliber submachine guns with clips holding 30 rounds are for the Office of Inspector General. OIG special agents, who are authorized to make arrests, serve warrants and carry firearms, conduct hundreds of criminal investigations, including undercover operations, annually into fraud, theft, smuggling, bribery and extortion, said a spokesman, and some involve potentially life-threatening situations. “The procurement pertains to OIG’s effort to replace automatic firearms with new semi-automatic firearms,” he said.