IRS hiring 360 armed agents, some for each state

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has put out ads to hire armed agents in all 50 states. The agency is looking to hire a total of 360 agents across the country, and they will "carry a firearm" and be willing to use deadly force, if necessary.

The hires are part of an initiative to hire up to 87,000 new agents to enforce tax laws, or as conservatives see it, to go after more Americans for allegedly not paying their taxes.

Presumably, the armed agents would be aiming to enforce tax laws on people who might become combative or violent, or who they think might attack agents rather than comply with what the IRS is requiring of them.

But even so, it seems excessive to use force when the IRS could easily seize their assets or garnish their wages. Why do they need to use guns as well?

The IRS has said that the armed agents would be criminal investigators, which presumably are a different class of offenders than your garden variety tax cheat.

The agency is looking for 20 investigators in Texas, the most of any state. Texas is the second most populous state, so it seems out of proportion to have more investigators there than another state like California, which is bigger than Texas (but much more liberal).