Posted on 08/20/2012 8:22:09 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
Social Security Administration on Ammo Buy: 589 Bullets Per Agent Is Normal By Penny Starr August 17, 2012
(CNSNews.com) – Tracy Lynge, deputy assistant inspector general with the Social Security Administration’s Office of Inspector General, said the order for 174,000 rounds of hollow point bullets is normal for the agency to use in training its 295 special agents and arming them as law enforcement personnel deployed in 66 offices around the country.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) posted a "Request for Quote for Ammunition" on the FedBizOps.gov website on Aug. 7. The request listed the bullets that SSA wanted as ".357 Sig 125 grain bonded jacketed hollow point pistol ammunition." The quantity listed was "174 TH." (See SSA order.pdf)
“As with other Federal law enforcement agencies, SSA’s OIG [Office of Inspector General] has established training requirements, such as mandatory quarterly firearms qualifications,” Lynge told CNSNews.com in an Aug. 17 e-mail in response to questions about the ammunition acquisition. “This training uses a considerable amount of ammunition.”
“For example, 290 agents training four times per year and using 150 rounds per training session would need 174,000 rounds,” Lynge said.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnsnews.com ...
Actually knowing the requirements, this does make sense but the 750 million rounds being sought by the DHS is either about 75,000 rds per agent or there are more agents there then we know of.
600-rounds per shooter doesn’t sound like all that many. I can burn through half of that in a couple of hours at the range.
The real issue is that people didn’t know the SSA had shooters.
SnakeDoc
Oh, ok... they have too d*mn many “agents” then.
And they are using premium duty ammo in training? I think not. How hard do the armed social security workers train? Qualifying annually I understand, but are they going through some other kind of training? The whole thing (all the other massive ammo purchases) and NOAA uparming require a better explanation.
Why do they need hollow point ammunition to shoot at targets?
It’s not the quantity of ammo that bothers me, it’s the quality of the ammo.
You don’t need premium grade ammo for training.
In any event, this is also typical government waste of money.
I train/practice with cheap .45 230 gr. ball ammo and I carry high-dollar stop-em-in-their-tracks ammo.
The feds should do the same.
Maybe the “Green” government can buy some 22 shorts too instead of always using full calibre ammo.
btt
Just why do Social Security “agents” need to be armed? I would assume they are all just bureaucrats and not law enforcement officers so why have them armed? If there is some crime or suspected crime wouldn’t they be working with the FBI or even local police? This is scary.
If you’re serious and have the money to do it (or, well, somebody else’s money), you train with what you carry - and you carry what you’re willing to stake your life on. Getting shot at by a high-stakes felon-in-progress is not when you want to discover that your department-issued sidearm doesn’t like “ashtray” JHPs all the time, refusing to cycle on 5% of ‘em.
Yes, I’ve burned thru 2000+ rounds of JHP in one week of training before. Still would if I could afford it. SSA can afford it.
***The real issue is that people didn’t know the SSA had shooters.***
Gotta do something with oldsters who have lived too long. Sarc/off
Actually, that's exactly what these bastards do. A friend of my family runs a fairly large, fairly well known shooting school in the upper midwest. We have heard his tales of Fedzilla Agents hiring him and his facility for various training exercises, showing up with a truckload of top-dollar JHP ammo, and burning through the lot in a weekend.
When did people start using Hollow points for practice?
Because high-stakes fraud happens, and police aren't versed in nuances of the Social Security law someone needs to know to take down a felon-in-progress and not lose key evidence in the process. Those agents are citizens too, and have a right to defend themselves while doing what sometimes is, in fact, a dangerous job. That there's a team of FBI agents present may not be comforting when hot Pb starts flying.
Ditto other agencies. Sometimes they have to deal with serious criminals. I don't begrudge those agents being armed and training appropriately. NOAA, SSA, DHS, etc have a few branches that can get into sticky situations.
Justification does not, of course, preempt all curiosity and concerns though...
When they started staking their lives on it.
Misster Anderson.....
We all know this is business as usual....
There is no real change, except that change is constant.....
These images you are fixating on are merely projections, an emotional response.....like love, no more or less significant than the result of ingesting a large amount of chocolate......
You see these images and ask why........
Your question should be, Why do I care.....
This is why you will either toe the line Misster Anderson, or you will be absorbed.....
“......my name is Neo!.....”
Actually, the South Park officer makes more sense and is easier to portray without resorting to odd phonetic consstructions.........
.02
I use mostly hollowpoints for practice. No real price difference, at least at retail.
Seems simpler to order one type of ammo rather than separate rounds for practice and enforcement. These aren’t SEALs or SFOD-D, they’re SSA Enforcement Agents. They’re only going through 600 rounds a year ... I doubt technical round selection is a major component of their job.
SnakeDoc
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.