This keeps coming up, I will try to put it to rest. Just one example: the Border Patrol has over 21,000 agents. Each agent is required to qualify each quarter with their duty carry firearm. The qualification course is 72 rounds. In addition each agent is given 150 rounds of practice ammo each quarter.
That is just the BP there is also CBP officers, ICE, protective service and a hole host of others.
It sounds like a lot of ammo but they burn through it quickly. Next year they will put out an RFP for more just like every year. This really is a non issue.
To me, it’s not the amount, it’s the company they are purchasing it from. Formed in December 2012??? And now they can supply this much ammo? And Las Vegas? Tin foil time.
Are you illnumerate? A billion is not a dozen more than a million. It is one thousand million.
The example you cited works out to 12.6 million rounds a year. Keep going and working through all the federal employees who must qualify each year. Let us see how many rounds that works out to. I’ll wager that it is not even a fraction of a billion.
One source lists the number of armed DHS emploees at pproximately 162,364. If they must qualify, that’s 100 million rounds a year. We have a 20 year supply at that rate, so what other consumers are there and about how much do they use?
see:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_armed_agents_does_the_department_of_homeland_security_have
I think these ammo purchases by the Feds....in all agencies....are raising alarm
And, since the GOP is going along with Open Borders and Illegal Alien Amnesty.....the DHS does not need as many rounds as before.
The thing is, when you use ammo for practice and training you don’t use hallow point ammo. You use cheap ball ammo so you don’t waste money.
Hallow point is better as a defensive round than it is as a practice round. Yes it is wise to run some through your gun to make sure it feeds reliably but not to shoot as practice ammo.
Just saying.
“It sounds like a lot of ammo but they burn through it quickly”
This stuff is not for practice. DHS is ordering +P critical defense rounds. These are frangible rounds and not used for practice. They are not burning through it on the practice range. Its enough ammo to shoot every American at least 6 times.
Critical defense ammo is pretty much to kill people. Its too expensive to practice with, its hard on the weapon, its bad for the backstops on the ranges and it will give you a helluva flinch.
DHS is not telling anybody that they are using it for practice. They are not telling you anything. Be concerned.
“This really is a non issue.”
Thanks for putting it into the proper perspective. However, this won’t stop some FR sheep from stampeding over the cliff, insisting that the forecasters at the National Weather Service will be shooting cop-killer bullets out their arses and making kills at 500 yards.