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STOCKPILING

Feds Buy 2 Billion Rounds of Ammunition

Is it normal for the government to stockpile ammo?

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by Mary Noble

Senior Editor t +

Image: All Wallpapers

The federal government has bought 2 billion rounds of ammunition since April 2012, according to Breitbart.com. And according to the Washington Post, the Feds plan to buy 1.6 billion more rounds in the next few years.

The purchase has sparked doomsday theories all over the internet. Conservative radio host Mark Levin suspects the government needs the bullets because they're simulating total economic collapse, "the collapse of our society and the potential for widespread violence, looting, killing in the streets." He claims that the volume of ammo ordered is enough for a 24-year Iraq war.

The purchase is not "sinister," according to the Post, because the government declares it wants the ammo for target practice while training law enforcers at Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Training centers like the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in GA use 15 million rounds a year – though of course 15 million per year doesn't begin to account for the recent 2 billion purchase order.

The NRA has, perhaps surprisingly, come to the government's defense. The organization makes a detailed case that the bullet order isn't excessive at all, but in fact reflects moderate needs of various law enforcement agencies.

Via Breitbart.com and the Washington Post.
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Is it reasonable for the government to buy so much ammunition?

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132 Comments (view in Forum)

  • drpeeper
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    He won't ignore the 2nd amd. He is more crafty than that. I'd expect an excise tax, a Value Added tax, and an extra sales tax on ammo.
  • Neo_NtheMatrix
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    @drpeeper - That won't stop people from buying guns and ammo. If anything, they'd buy more. obama isn't simply trying to make it difficult for gun owners, he wants to eliminate gun owners. I expect something far more dastardly from this guy.

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  • Libertyiskey
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    I agree but they did say that they plan on buying 1.6 billion in the next few years, so the recent 2 billion at one time sounds like its a little different than normal but that's just going off what was said in this article.

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  • GedankPol
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    It's another one of the tentacles of Operation Fast and Furious. Phase one was saturate the market with unlawfully purchased semi-auto rifles; Phase two is buy up as much ammunition as possible in order to drive up the prices and create shortages. Higher prices means less ammunition being sold. Phase three will probably be to disburse the ammunition free of charge in inner cities to increase the drug-dealer/gang carnage even more in order to drive hysteria to all-time highs through the increased number of deaths. I'm being sarcastic and flip, but this is the same government that once had the brilliant idea to drop HUGE condoms "by mistake" over hostile enemy countries to give the impression all American men were hung and to "Nuke the Moon" to impress the then Soviet Government. And don't forget Fast and Furious itself, and the raison d'etre for that little project, lol.
  • Knightkore
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    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollow-point_bul...

    The Hague Convention of 1899, Declaration III, prohibited the use in international warfare of bullets that easily expand or flatten in the body.[3] This is often incorrectly believed to be prohibited in the Geneva Conventions, but it significantly predates those conventions, and is in fact a continuance of the St. Petersburg Declaration of 1868, which banned exploding projectiles of less than 400 grams, as well as weapons designed to aggravate injured soldiers or make their death inevitable. NATO members do not use small arms ammunition that is prohibited by the Hague Convention.

    Despite the ban on military use, hollow-point bullets are one of the most common types of civilian and police ammunition,[citation needed] due largely to the reduced risk of bystanders being hit by over-penetrating or ricocheted bullets, and the increased speed of incapacitation.

    {What kind of battle are these goverment agencies preparing for?}
  • BelinKS
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    I wish they would have put exactly the different types of ammunition. Plus, I wish they would have put more options to take. I'm sure it takes a lot of ammunition for those training centers. But I know that all police stations and sherriff offices have to buy their own ammo. Though not in the article FEMA has a huge stock pile of weapons and ammunition. Why would FEMA be stockpiling weapons and ammo?
    My first thought when I read the title was that the govt. was trying to make average citizens have a shortage of ammo, thus making it more expensive to buy.
    All forms of military gets it's ammunition it's self, not from this govt. stockpile.
    I just don't know, but something doesn't feel right.
  • JoinCCA
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    Sounds pretty normal to me. I do not support BO at all, but why live your life in fear and anxiety by thinking he has a sinister plan. Thats just ridiculous. I still have faith in our Government and America, even though it seems like we are heading the way of the gold fish.
  • jessejaymes
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    At the risk of being called a conspiracy theorist this doesn't surprise me at all . The ultra rich's war on the middle class has become so draconian that I think all politicians are bought and paid for at the federal level including Obama and I think the govt may well be stockpiling against civil unrest.
  • jmann88
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    Buy all the ammo with our tax dollar. Probably to be used against us latter on down the road when Obama sets full fledge Marshall law and America turns to a police state.
  • PNWest
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    @Yank Of course not. I'm disappointed in Mary using a right wing hack site like Breitbart. HuffPost and Daily Kos are credible sources, Breitbart is not.

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  • harold_lloyd
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    This story is like a Rorschach ink blot. Your reaction to it says more about you than about the story.

    What did surprise me, as I read all the cited articles, is that nobody thought to ask a question that might settle this, "How much did they buy the last time?"
  • PoliticalSpice
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    That is a case with a lot of stories about firearms. Although I support the 2nd and basically oppose gun control, if I write a ambiguous cmment and take no position you'd be amazed at the insane comments, assumptions, etc. I get in response. It keeps me laughing for hours.
  • Vance1
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    Feds Buy 2 Billion Rounds of Ammunition .... "WHY"?
    They also purchased 7,000.00 AR-15's
    and they purchased special personal carrying vehicles for Homeland Security.

    and again ... "WHY"?

    Taxpayer monies were used, The public should be told the truth!!!!!!!!
  • miketost
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    Ok lets take a look at this.For those that know ammo they realize that wad cutters are for target practice a solid lead bullet that cuts a clean hole.Hollow points that are banned by the Geneva convention in war are designed for maximum destruction of human tissue.Guess what the government is buying? Hollow points and why is that?
  • AnnieO
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    I was wondering that too. We use hollow points for our carry and home defense guns only. I've never used them for target practice. Plus they are more expensive.
  • WMCOL
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    NRA is right on this. This is just a "moderate" amount of ammo for such a big need as Federal Agents require for practice. And just in case you right-wingers are getting your panties in a wad this ammo acquisition does not count the ammo Obama uses for skeet shooting.
  • thumper11
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    Well said. Two-Billion rounds / divided by 120,000 armed federal agents = 16,700 rounds per agent. All prudent Americans should follow their lead, and make sure they have at least that much - for every member of their family. After all - WMCOL (and the US government) says it's "just a moderate amount".
  • WMCOL
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    @thumper11
    More like 150,000 agents who use the ammo over several years. I have 5000 rounds of AK ammo and a couple a thousand rounds of assorted other ammo. I buy it mostly at gun shows, in bulk, for practice shooting. I go through a 150 rounds of 7.62 in a few seconds, then shoot other guns too. If I shot as often as Federal Agents it would only last 2 to 3 years. Not very long, especially when practicing with multiple weapons. It's good to stay stocked up, because look at the ammo situation right now. Difficult to get. Better to have it and don't need it than to need it and don't have it.
  • thumper11
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    @WMCOL,
    Most of the ammo is for civilian semi-auto pistols, NOT for full-auto assault-rifles. If every agent uses 50 rounds every month (not likely), it will last 27 years. Why now - for the first time in over 200 years? Oh right - they suddenly need to really "practice" - a lot - not with target rounds, but with hollow-points. Do you also believe in the tooth-fairy? More likely, they're expecting something unusual to happen very soon.
  • WMCOL
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    @thumper11
    Some agents use more than 50 rds a month for practice. This is the common ammo for the kind of guns most agents use,.40 and .357. Also reloads from spent rounds is not available since military can no longer sell their empty rounds to ammo makers who used to sell re-loads to government agencies. The ammo is supplied over 5-years. Compared to what these agencies usually buy and a source loss there is nothing conspiratorial about government buying this much ammo. Always better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. Nothing unusual here.

    What's surprizing is why the government does not buy up even more ammo, especially since citizens are buying up so much ammo and making it scarce and hard to get. Wish I had bought at least three times as much.
  • thumper11
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    @WMCOL,
    So, 27 years-worth - for a 5-year supply. An amount that has never been 'needed' before - that far exceeds the requirements of the entire US military - in war-time. Right, "nothing unusual here". And why do you suppose the current administration suddenly stopped the military from disposing of their brass on the domestic market? I have a bridge I'd like to sell you.

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