2012 - Homeland Security buys 1.6 billion Rounds of Handgun Ammo

[Kaitzilla]

That looks like the final tally for last year.
As far as I know, none of this is for the military.

What does the regular government need so much ammo for?
http://news.investors.com/politics-...meland-security-vast-ammunition-purchases.htm

But DHS has been silent about its need for numerous orders of bullets in the multiple millions. Indeed, Examiner writer Ryan Keller points out Janet Napolitano's agency illegally redacted information from some ammunition solicitation forms following media inquiries.

According to one estimate, just since last spring DHS has stockpiled more than 1.6 billion bullets, mainly .40 caliber and 9mm. That's sufficient firepower to shoot every American about five times. Including illegal immigrants.

To provide some perspective, experts estimate that at the peak of the Iraq war American troops were firing around 5.5 million rounds per month. At that rate, DHS is armed now for a 24-year Iraq war.

I'm genuniely curious. Any insight or context would be welcome.

 

[Bugfatty300]

Survivalist nutjobs.

 

[Formaldehyde]

The story actually stated they just bought 21.6 million rounds, not 1.6 billion rounds as the subject bar alleges.

In a puzzling, unexplained development, the Obama administration has been buying and storing vast amounts of ammunition in recent months, with the Department of Homeland Security just placing another order for an additional 21.6 million rounds.

I don't know what is so "puzzling" or "unexpected" about that.

One unnamed person wildly speculating does not a fact make:

According to one estimate, just since last spring DHS has stockpiled more than 1.6 billion bullets, mainly .40 caliber and 9mm. That's sufficient firepower to shoot every American about five times. Including illegal immigrants.

Investor's Business Daily seems to be a bit out of their league in regard to this story, don't you think:

Investor's Business Daily (IBD) is a national newspaper in the United States, published Monday through Friday, that covers international business, finance, and the global economy. Founded in 1984 by William O'Neil, its headquarters are in Los Angeles, California.

IBD provides detailed information about stocks, mutual funds, commodities, and other financial instruments aimed at individual investors. The newspaper provides detailed, concise statistics using earnings, stock price performance, and other criteria to help investors find quality stocks. Detailed index and stock charts are present throughout. The stock and mutual fund information is designed to be used along with the founder William O'Neil's book How to Make Money in Stocks. O'Neil developed CAN SLIM which claims to be a checklist of the characteristics performing stocks tend to share before their biggest gains.[1][2]

On July 31, 2009, an editorial in IBD touted the superiority of U.S. healthcare and argued that physicist Stephen Hawking "wouldn't have a chance in the U.K., where the [British] National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless."[7] As Hawking has always lived in the U.K. and receives his medical care from the NHS, the editorial was widely criticized.[6][8][9]

Now that's "credibility".

 

[TomYo689]

Thank you for finding numbers in the wall of text

 

[aelf]

What does the regular government need so much ammo for?

To deprive honest Americans of ammunition and to use said ammunition to take away their arms, of course.

 

[Kaitzilla]

The story actually stated they just bought 21.6 million rounds.

I don't know what is so "puzzling" or "unexpected" about that.

One person wildly speculating does not a fact make:



Investor's Business Daily seems to be a bit out of their league in regard to this story, don't you think:

Formaldehyde always wants the documentation. I started the thread so I gotta search around now.

April to August DHS completed a lot of the paperwork for a 750 million round order over 5 years. From Reuters:
http://rt.com/usa/news/dhs-ammo-rounds-security-560/

The actual info sheet from DHS website listing all the different types of ammo they want:
(Click on DHS link Soliticitation 1.pdf on the right, units are mostly th which means thousands)
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportu...&id=d024b4476b2648e5c1c7856f3e7cf5e3&_cview=0


March completed a 450 million round order to be delivered over 5 years. From Politifact:
http://www.politifact.com/texas/sta...email-says-homeland-security-purchasing-many/


September completed a 165 million round order to be delivered over 5 years. From Examiner:
I can't actually verify 200M. Every time I count I get 165 million rounds. And these are rifle rounds so my OP title is off too
(Click on DHS link Attachment 2, read the top paragraph)
http://www.examiner.com/article/department-of-homeland-security-buys-even-more-hollow-point-rounds



So that is 1.365 billion. Still not seeing how some news articles are getting 1.6 billion. I may have been snookered by Investor's Business Daily

 

[Formaldehyde]

The actual bidding sheet from DHS website by all the different types of ammo they want:
(Click on Soliticitation 1.pdf on the right, units are th which means thousands I think)
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportu...&id=d024b4476b2648e5c1c7856f3e7cf5e3&_cview=0

That would appear to be what it means. And according to the information on the form they want about 1.7M rounds of various types of .223 ammo. Big whoop.

March completed a 450 million round order to be delivered over 5 years. From Politifact:
http://www.politifact.com/texas/sta...email-says-homeland-security-purchasing-many/

If you notice what Politifact says, it claims the allegation is "mostly false".

Chain email says Homeland Security purchasing many bullets perhaps in anticipation of civil unrest or an invasion.

In its website, the Georgia-based center says it trains law officers for 90 federal agencies and also officers in state, local, tribal, and international law enforcement. Chandler said that in the 12 months through September 2011, over 11,000 students at the center fired over 11 million rounds of .40 caliber ammunition, primarily in basic training.

Chandler said earlier that Homeland Security oversees more than 135,000 weapons-carrying officers.

Our calculation: If those officers go through all the possible 450 million rounds at the same rate each over five years -- admittedly, an unlikely balance -- each officer will have used about 667 bullets a year.

That's 2 bullets per day...

Oh noes. Cops and federal agents from across the country are constantly training to be proficient with guns, including DHS officers. Who would have thought?

"On its face, the type of ammunition and the amount of ammunition over a five-year period of time doesn’t sound extraordinarily excessive," Magers said. Of the chain email’s mention of a bullet for every man, woman and child, he said: "Whoever came up with this one bullet per person is trying to sensationalize this. That’s borderline irresponsible."

I would say it is far more than "borderline irresponsible".

 

[Kaitzilla]

I am having trouble verifying the reported 750M ammo purchase by the DHS.

It's the number Reuters uses, but when I count it myself I'm not seeing anywhere near that much. Unless line 3001 is 690ish million .223 bullets.

Buy why put such a monster amount in year 4 of the 5 year contract?

Perhaps I am just reading the DHS documentation wrong.

 

[Agent327]

Cops and federal agents from across the country are constantly training to be proficient with guns, including DHS officers.

That was my first thought exactly. Persons authorized to handle guns need to practice. Ergo, most ammunition will get used on precisely such practice.

As per OP: presenting random facts is hardly informative. If anything, it's disinformative without proper context.

 

[Disgustipated]

That's too much practicing. They shouldn't even have guns in the first place. Face it, the U.S. has become a police state. And Obama is just as much responsible for it as Bush.

 

[Crezth]

Glad to see this thread was dispelled quickly because Formaldehyde knows how to read and count.

 

[Chiteng]

Obviously they know something we dont =)

Too bad disarming the public doesnt include DHS

 

[El_Machinae]

Would a huge number of pistol rounds really change anything? A real fight would require rifle rounds

 

[ace99]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Purge

 

[timtofly]

Nothing like tax payer money going to help the free market, unless Form can prove that the rounds came from China?

 

[Formaldehyde]

Is that supposed to be relevant in any discernible way?