NATION'S INTERNAL ARMIES ARE GROWING

A startling statistic from Washington, D.C., tells us there are now more immigration agents armed with guns than any other federal agency, including the FBI and the Bureau of Prisons. Yet the tide of illegal immigrants continues virtually unabated.

And consider this, the number of armed federal agents from all agencies climbed to 74,500 by mid-1996, a 6 percent increase since the Justice Department last conducted such a statistical survey in 1993.

Sixteen federal agencies now have more than 500 armed agents each, including the Fish and Wildlife Service, with 869 gun-toting agents who are authorized to make arrests.

While the nation's military, which defends us from foreign threat, is dwindling, the country's armies against internal strife are growing steadily.