The first legislative act by Alaska’s new senator, Dan Sullivan (R), turns out to be a gun control measure — but one that will only affect federal agents.
Sullivan, who ousted Democratic Sen. Mark Begich last fall, is hoping to get a vote this week on an amendment to the Keystone XL pipeline bill that would ban police officers who work for the Environmental Protection Agency from carrying firearms.
“When the EPA initially was stood up, it didn’t have employees who were armed,” Sullivan said at a Monday news conference when asked about the measure.
The Alaska Republican is framing his amendment as a first step toward reducing the scope of the federal government. In particular, Sullivan said, members of the EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division have shown a tendency to overstep their authority. He pointed to a clean water inspection at a remote Alaskan gold-mining settlement a year and a half ago, in which EPA agents angered a group of miners by showing up armed and wearing body armor.
“We think it’s an area, both from a strategic perspective, starting to limit the federal government in terms of some of its power and authority, but also in terms of oversight,” Sullivan said Monday. “If you have to get together with the local trooper to go execute a warrant, you might think twice. So I think that it’s something we’re looking at bipartisan support for.”
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