Why Does the IRS Need Guns Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1949 To prohibit the Internal Revenue Service from providing firearms and ammunition to its employees, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 13, 2023 Ms. ERNST introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To prohibit the Internal Revenue Service from providing firearms and ammunition to its employees, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Why Does the IRS 4 Need Guns Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 For purposes of this Act: 7 (1) AMMUNITION.—The term ‘‘ammunition’’ 8 has the same meaning given such term under section 9 921(a)(17) of title 18, United States Code. 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1949.IS S1949 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1949 IS (2) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘‘Commis- 1 sioner’’ means the Commissioner of Internal Rev- 2 enue. 3 (3) FIREARM.—The term ‘‘firearm’’ has the 4 same meaning given such term under section 5 921(a)(3) of title 18, United States Code. 6 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 8 sion of law, none of the funds authorized to be appro- 9 priated or otherwise made available for any fiscal year 10 may be obligated or expended by the Commissioner to pur- 11 chase, receive, or store any firearm or ammunition. 12 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 13 on the date which is 120 days after the date of enactment 14 of this Act. 15 SEC. 4. TRANSFER OF FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION. 16 Not later than the date which is 120 days after the 17 date of enactment of this Act, the Commissioner shall 18 transfer to the Administrator of General Services— 19 (1) any firearms owned by, or under the control 20 of, the Internal Revenue Service; and 21 (2) any ammunition owned by, or under the 22 control of, the Internal Revenue Service. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1949.IS S1949 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1949 IS SEC. 5. SALE OF FIREARMS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the date which is 2 30 days after the date on which the transfer described 3 in section 4 has been completed, the Administrator of Gen- 4 eral Services shall— 5 (1) initiate the sale or auction of any firearms 6 described in paragraph (1) of such section to li- 7 censed dealers (as defined in section 921(a)(11) of 8 title 18, United States Code); and 9 (2) initiate the auction of any ammunition de- 10 scribed in paragraph (2) of section 4 to members of 11 the general public. 12 (b) PROCEEDS.—Any proceeds from the sale or auc- 13 tion of property described in subsection (a) shall be depos- 14 ited in the general fund of the Treasury for the sole pur- 15 pose of deficit reduction. 16 SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATION OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS 17 BY ATTORNEY GENERAL. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—With respect to the administra- 19 tion and enforcement of— 20 (1) any of the criminal provisions of the inter- 21 nal revenue laws, 22 (2) any other criminal provisions of law relating 23 to internal revenue for the enforcement of which the 24 Secretary of the Treasury, as of the date of enact- 25 ment of this Act, was responsible, or 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1949.IS S1949 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1949 IS (3) any other law for which the Secretary of the 1 Treasury, as of the date of enactment of this Act, 2 delegated investigatory authority to the Internal 3 Revenue Service, 4 such administration and enforcement shall be performed 5 by or under the supervision of the Attorney General. 6 (b) PERFORMANCE OF TRANSFERRED FUNCTIONS.— 7 The Attorney General may make such provisions as the 8 Attorney General determines appropriate to authorize the 9 performance by any officer, employee, or agency of the De- 10 partment of Justice of any function transferred to the At- 11 torney General under this section. 12 (c) TRANSFER OF AUTHORITIES, FUNCTIONS, PER- 13 SONNEL, AND ASSETS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF JUS- 14 TICE.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, there 15 are transferred to the Department of Justice the authori- 16 ties, functions, personnel, and assets of the Criminal In- 17 vestigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service, 18 which shall be maintained as a distinct entity within the 19 Criminal Division of the Department of Justice, including 20 the related functions of the Secretary of the Treasury. 21 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 22 on the date which is 90 days after the date of enactment 23 of this Act. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1949.IS S1949 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB