IRS Plans To Hire Gun-Carrying Special Agents In All 50 States

A job posting on the IRS website says that it is hiring special agents with guns who can make arrests in all 50 US states.

IRS-CI, the law enforcement arm of the IRS known as Criminal Investigations (CI), is currently hiring at various locations in the United States. IRS Special Agents within the CI Division are the only IRS Employees who are legally authorized to carry and utilize firearms. IRS-CI is responsible for investigating financial crimes, money-laundering, tax-related fraud, and terrorist financing.

The IRS states that under the “major duties,” section of the job posting, special agents must “carry a gun; be ready to defend themselves or others against physical attacks at anytime and without warning; and be willing to use firearms in situations where life is threatened; and be willing to use deadly force.”

IRS-CI agents are also required to be “willing and able” to take part in dangerous assignments such as arrests, search warrant execution, and other dangerous tasks. Special agents must also maintain a “level of fitness” to respond effectively to life-threatening scenarios on the job.

The job seeker must also meet certain requirements. These include having U.S. Citizenship and being between 21 and 37 years old at the date of the appointment.

Special agents in the Criminal Investigation division of the IRS must pass a pre-employment medical exam, a tax exam and if they are allowed to own firearms. They also have to pass a drug and alcohol test.

The IRS job posting on USAJobs for this role opened in mid-February, and will remain active until the end of the calendar year. The job posting includes 360 vacancies at 249 locations across the country, with one in every state.

IRS special agents working in the CI Division can expect to earn between $52,921 – $94,228 per year.

Last year, the IRS was criticized when a similar post went live during a debate in Congress about Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act. This included an increase of $80 billion over 10 years in funding for the IRS.

Other federal law enforcement jobs that require field work or potentially dangerous situations also list similar language regarding the use of firearms and force.