Sen. Tom Coburn said Tuesday the federal government should have no role in arming local law enforcement agencies, and he sparred with a Defense Department official about the types of military equipment sold to small-town police departments.

“Our founders saw no role for the federal government in state and local police forces — none,” Coburn, R-Muskogee, said at a Capitol Hill hearing about federal programs that provide excess military equipment to states and localities.

Coburn said the events of Sept. 11, 2001, led the federal government to overreact in ensuring local law enforcement could prepare for terrorist acts.

Now, he said, “We’re on dangerous ground of undermining the very principles that built the country.”