USDA wants sub-guns. Outrageous? Not really…

AWR Hawkins reports at Breitbart that the US Department of Agriculture has issued a solicitation for submachine guns chambered in .40 S&W. Is this the latest sign of a government gone rogue, arming for a fight against its own people? Not really.

The solicitation reads in part…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General, located in Washington, DC, pursuant to the authority of FAR Part 13, has a requirement for the commerical [sic] acquisition of submachine guns, .40 Cal. S&W, ambidextrous safety, semi-automatic or 2 shot burts trigger group, Tritium night sights for front and rear, rails for attachment of flashlight (front under fore grip) and scope (top rear), stock-collapsilbe [sic] or folding, magazine – 30 rd. capacity, sling, light weight, and oversized trigger guard for gloved operation. 

Those of us who hunt public land will easily recall that the National Forests we hunt are administered by the US Forest Service, an agency of the USDA. We also know that there are some parts of the forest where one needs to tread lightly; and I don’t mean in a “be careful not to step on a flower” or a “keep and eye out for Yogi and Boo-Boo” kinda way. In those parts of the forest, it’s booby traps you’re looking out for.

Since Obama’s Consigliere General Eric Holder decide that arming Mexican drug cartels sounded like a great idea, our national forests have become a little sketchy in some places. And while hunters have a choice about what parts of the forest they’ll visit, forest rangers don’t. The poor schmucks have to go into what the rest of us would call no-go zones. And if a ranger wishes to avoid getting the Brian Terry treatment from Obama’s narcoterroristas, he or she had better be packing some serious heat.

So no, it’s not outrageous that the USDA would want submachine guns like the ones the solicitation calls for. Mr. Ranger probably loves his job, but that doesn’t mean he wants to die while doing it.