Posted on 08/26/2012 12:59:41 PM PDT by maggiesnotebook
In a date-redacted document, DHS claimed "Unusual and Compelling Urgency" NOT to inform the public of quantities of ammo purchased with tax money ($4.6 MILLION) for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Federal Protective Service (FPS). The original bid date was May 2012. On July 30, 2012 the award was announced for a contract, and for an undisclosed quantity of 223 62 grain duty and 223 64 grain duty. Federal Cartridge Company in Minnesota won the bid assuming any other company was allowed to bid against them. The purchased ammo is to be used for the agencies listed above, for training and performance of duties. Attached to the Award Notice is a pdf titled "Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition. As you read, ponder whether this is Other Than Full and Open Competition or Other Than Full and Open Disclosure. 223 Redacted J&A.pdf
4. Identification of Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open CompetitionUpon reading "full and open competition," my first thought was that the bid was not available to some companies who might want to bid for the contract, but if that's the case, why are the quantities of ammo redacted. This seems more to be 'other than full and open disclosure.'The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C.3304 (a)(2) implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.302-2 entitled "Unusual and Compelling Urgency." The manufacturer is the only one that provides the referenced part numbers on this one time purchase.
There are approximately 23 black marker redactions excluding the redacting of the names and dates of the Contracting Officer and and Sections Chief - Contracts.
Back in December, Department of Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano directed ICE to prepare for a substantial inundation of immigrants into the United States, calling for the plan to deal with the “shelter” and “processing” of large numbers of people.The Destructionist:
Despite the fact that documents are only supposed to be redacted if authorized by Congress or for national security reasons, a solicitation posted on the FedBizOpps website yesterday concerning ammunition purchases made by the DHS on behalf of Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) contains numerous blacked out sections.I am working on verifying the above statement, that Congressional authority is needed for redaction, or that national security concerns can override that authority. I have no problem believing it, but hope to find a specific confirmation and compare it to the provision of authority under FAR cited in the pdf. Whatever is going on, it is "compelling and urgent;" for whom it is compelling and urgent isn't clear. Maybe you and me? Doesn't sound like normal duty or training. If you read the ClashDaily post linked above, he speculates bloggers have created a storm of controversy over our heavily-armed Government. Below is background material on some of the ammo buy-ups. Note that the first one below compares what our Military in Iraq used in one year, as compared to what DHS has order - and understand that none of the below, and none of the figures of over 1 BILLION rounds ordered by DHS includes Military/Pentagon/Department of Defense orders. My thanks to Matthew Fuller at Free Republic.
Background and Related:
Military in Iraq Used 70M Rounds of Ammo Annually: DHS Ordered 450M Rounds in One Month
Social Security Admin Buys 174,000 Hollow Point Bullets: Border Patrol Armed with Bean Bags
NOAA Buys 46,000 Rounds of Illegal Hollow Point Bullets
DHS Millions of Rounds of Ammo and BuletProof CheckPoint Booths - for what?
--You may recently have seen some in the Internet rumor mill feverishly repeating the obvious truth above, in an effort to stir up fear about recent acquisitions of ammunition by the Department of Homeland Security and a number of smaller agencies. The mildest writers have questioned why seemingly mundane agencies would need ammunition at all; more incendiary authors suggest that these government agencies are preparing for a war with the American people. Much of the concern stems from a lack of understanding of the law enforcement functions carried about by officers in small federal agencies. These agents have the power to make arrests and execute warrants, just like their better-known counterparts at agencies like the FBI. For instance, the Social Security Administration solicited offers for 174,000 rounds of pistol ammunition. But the agency has 295 special agents who combat Social Security fraud that costs tax payers billions each year, so the order works out to roughly 590 rounds of ammunition per agent for training, mandatory quarterly qualification shooting and duty use. More than a few NRA members would use that much ammunition in a weekend shooting class or plinking session. Another recent rumor questioned a request for 46,000 rounds of.40-caliber ammo by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA inadvertently fueled that speculation through a clerical error that suggested the ammunition was destined for the National Weather Service. NOAA later clarified that the ammunition was actually for the little known Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement, which enforces laws against illegal fishing and marine life importation. The ammunition is for 63 personnel, amounting to about 730 rounds per officer. The most widespread of the recent rumors involves a Department of Homeland Security contract for a maximum of 450 million rounds of .40-caliber jacketed hollow-points, to be supplied over the next five years. After receiving numerous questions from his constituents regarding the contract, pro-Second Amendment U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.) and his staff set out in search of the truth. In a press release, Rep. Westmoreland's office explains: If you take the number of agencies that will be using this ammunition – CBP, Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), ICE, the U.S. Secret Service, Transportation Security Administration, the DHS police force, and all the guards that protect the various buildings these agencies are housed in, and spread that out over 5 years, you start to see that 450 million rounds really isn't that large of an order. Especially considering it is used for training purposes like firing range and live fire exercises, on-the-job use (though that is very limited), and to shore up their supplies. In fact, there are 65,000 – 70,000 law enforcement personnel at DHS who would be covered under this … ammunition contract. If DHS were to purchase all 450 million rounds over 5 years, then that would equate to only about 1,384 rounds of ammo per year per law enforcement [officer] … assuming the lower estimate of only 65,000 law enforcement personnel at DHS. Considering those agents go through training exercises several times per year, that is not a lot of ammunition. Perhaps most strangely, some have cited the purchase of hollow-point ammunition as evidence of the federal government's evil motives. Hollow-points are the defensive ammunition of choice for federal, state and local law enforcement officers across the country, just as they are for private citizens. These attacks are eerily similar to statements made by gun prohibitionists, who spent the much of the '70s, '80s and '90s complaining about "dum dum" bullets. (In fact, the Violence Policy Center's website still exhibits a publication lamenting that federal ammunition law "has no effect on today's generation of high-tech hollow-point ammunition.") The attacks also ignore the fact that federal agents, unlike average taxpayers on more limited budgets, normally train and qualify with their duty ammunition. As most gun owners will agree, skepticism of government is healthy. But today, there are more than enough actual threats to the Second Amendment to keep gun owners busy. With two key Supreme Court decisions hanging by a one-vote margin, the Justice Department deeply involved in a cover-up of a disastrous Mexican gun smuggling operation, and President Obama touting a ban on popular semi-automatic firearms, there is no need to invent additional threats to our rights.
--AND BESIDES THAT, HOLLOWPOINTS AREN'T ILLEGAL---
This somewhat tendentious screed certainly is less than illuminating about the thing pointed up here... why the hush hush over even getting all the ammunition. If it is for exercises why not just say so.
The Fed agencies should all have to use the same caliber ammo. They are wasting money buying .40 for this one and .357 Sig for that one, 9mm for this one, etc. One caliber for handguns and submachine guns, two for rifles, 12 gauge for shotguns, and a small budget for the lab guys to buy for testing. Standardization- it saves the taxpayers money.
Bookmark. Thanks for posting.
Sticking with my skepticism of our beloved federal officials, I’m still waiting for a plausible explanation for Department of Education having its own SWAT team.
As far as hysteria is concerned, I would be more open to the notion that we are overreacting *if* these same DHS officials hadn’t been openly profiling normal American citizens as “potential” terrorists for such reasons as believing the US government should abide by the US Constitution.
As long as Big Sis and her merry band of fascists openly display their disdain for ordinary Americans and continue in their various methods of intimidation and harassment, I am not going to assume anything they do is benign in intent.
Nut-job Conspiracy Theory Ping!
To get onto The Nut-job Conspiracy Theory Ping List you must threaten to report me to the Mods if I don’t add you to the list...
I liked your thoughts on all this, and just had to say your comments mirror my thoughts exactly.
rellimpank, they are illegal in some cases under the Geneva Convention - not all, but some.
So hollow points aren’t illegal.
And they are also unnecessary for range ammo! Jacketed hollow points are more expensive than LRN rounds and don’t shoot any differently at a range.
Someone went nuts with a Sharpie or two!
I’m still waiting for a plausible explainationg for ICE to have more than one Barney Fife bullet. It’s not like they can find an illegal in a Mexican protest parade or sitting outside Home Depot.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
