Hey, there are guns in my alphabet soup

I've had at least one criticism in this early part of my campaign that has some merit. In my essay on John Ashcroft, I faulted him as Attorney General for the IRS seizure of the Indianapolis Baptist Temple. A fellow Blogcritic countered that this was just wrong, because the IRS is the Treasury Department, not Justice.

Now in this particular case, I'm minimally covered in that the IRS was specifically backed up in their seizure by the FBI. They surely ARE under John Ashcroft's purview. Still, that's primarily the Treasury Department.

The thumbnail version of civics is that the Attorney General is the head federal law enforcement officer. The natural tendency then is to consider him responsible for acts of federal law enforcement.

Thing is, minions of the Justice Department are not the only federal agents who have guns and the authority to use them. Thinking it out, half the agencies of the federal government get to make up their own rules, then enforce them at gunpoint.

We've got a whole vat of alphabet soup, the FEC, FCC, BATF, IRS, SEC and who even KNOWS how many others? How many of them get to carry firearms, and enforce unilaterally whatever edicts they like? Who is even to be held responsible?