Why is the Government Stockpiling Ammo?

DHS Ammunition Purchases to be Reported:

On the other hand, some of the “purchases”, such as at least one Department of Homeland Security contract, appear to be simply multi-year IDIQ (Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity) contracts – meaning there is no commitment to actually purchase anything at this time.  The advantage of having such a contract in place is that the Government can move really fast and buy a whole lot of ammunition very quickly without the need for drawn-out contracting procedures.  But why would the Government be anticipating such a need?  And why are we talking about the need for a grand total of 1.2 billion rounds of hollow point ammunition for the Department of Homeland Security anyway?  Our military used only 70 million rounds of ammunition annually to wage the Iraq war!

The other agencies, Social Security and NOAA in particular, are purchasing about 600 rounds per special agent authorized to carry a weapon.  Most of these rounds are supposedly required to meet qualification and training standards.  Do the special agents use hollow point bullets for target practice, too?  Although 600 rounds seem a bit high to me, it’s at least plausible and insignificant compared to the Department of Homeland Security purchases.

 

According to the Washington Post, right after the federal government took over the student aid program, the Department of Education began to acquire tactical weapons like Remington’s 870 police 12-gauge shotgun.

Agencies like the Department of Education, the Social Security Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Internal Revenue Service continue to purchase large amounts of tactical weapons and ammunition to build up their law enforcement divisions.

DHS has attempted to downplay its stockpiles, explaining that the ammunition will be distributed to various offices and training facilities across the country and the explosives will be used for training purposes; but many people are concerned. But DHS isn’t the only agency acquiring large amounts of ammo. Social Security Administration officials recently acquisitioned 174K rounds of .357 hollow-point bullets, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration requested 46K .40-caliber hollow points, the Federal Bureau of Investigation awarded contracts for 100M rounds of ammo on November 15, 2011, and the Department of Agriculture issued bids for 321K rounds of various ammo types. Some of these bullets are reportedly “frangible rounds,” which James Smith of the website Activist Post described as being “designed to break apart when they hit walls or other hard surfaces to prevent ricochets during close-quarter combat.”

 The total ammunition from all of these governmental agencies comes in at a whopping 1.4B rounds. With only 311M people in the U.S., why would the feds need nearly a billion and a half rounds of ammo, more than three bullets per citizen? One reason that many commentators point to is November’s upcoming presidential election. For example, some worry that if Barack Obama loses the election, angry mobs of urban blacks, spurred on by Black Panther agitators, would stage riots in cities around the country. Also possible is the expectation of a catastrophic economic collapse, which would likely lead to widespread havoc and increased support for secessionist movements that seek to break up the U.S. Finally, Second Amendment proponents wonder if the government foresees ammunition shortages or a lockdown on manufacturers.

 

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/sisterthundershow/2014/05/06/why-is-the-government-stockpiling-ammo