Posted on 04/02/2013 4:03:00 PM PDT by plain talk
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has responded to a letter dated November 13, 2012 from Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) regarding the agency's ammunition purchases. Sen. Coburn published the response on the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs website yesterday, April 1, 2013.
The response, dated February 4, 2013, says that DHS buys ammunition in bulk to "significantly lower costs."
(Excerpt) Read more at cnsnews.com ...
It baffles me why they would sell to the gov at a low margin, when they will sell out anyway. I think all ammo maker should just not sell to any police dept, govt agcy, etc. Starve them. There are only about four major manufacturers
I've explained in the past that CBP alone burns through approximately 40 to 50 million rounds of hollow point each year but they are just too smart to understand the truth.
In hoarder's caches. Paranoid civilians are buying it as fast as it hits the retail shelves. In general, retailers have not been price gouging, but most have placed limits on purchases to spread the ammo around more evenly. Distributors have been gouging with both guns and ammunition. I hope that comes back to burn them. Gun show merchants have been have been charging outrageous prices for ammunition. As much as it irritates me, that is the way free enterprise, supply and demand works.
"I’m sure you would conclude that it is due to panic buying(?)" Absolutely! We have met the enemy. It is us. Reason has been left in the dust. Also, a few buyers hope to profit from their unnecessary purchases, but that seems unlikely unless they find buyers very soon.
"The fact that people believe there to be a problem and act on that belief makes it a “real” issue."
Yes it does. The only known cures are when folks run out of money, feel that they have acquired enough guns and ammo or understand the true situation. Industry cannot possible meet the current demand and are wisely resisting the temptation to increase production capacity for a short term event. Historically, there has been an over-capacity in the ammunition industry.
"We are now into the 4th month of the largest ammo shortage I have seen in over 40 years. I am baffled by people who aren’t at somewhat concerned about this."
Baffled and concerned by the cause of the shortages or their inability to hoard enough?
"Should we feel better about the lack of ammo because you have assured us it is not due to DHS purchases?"
Not necessarily, but you should feel better knowing the truth. The shortage of guns is already easing now that it is clear the new restrictions on AR-15's and M4's will not happen. Within a couple of months the other political issues related to guns, magazines and ammo will have been resolved, one way or another. Panic buying of ammo should then slow down greatly, but it could take many months to re-fill the distribution pipeline and establish a new normal.
Your post makes a lot of sense. Two months ago Bud’s was sold out of Mosins. Now they have 5 different types in stock. Ammo is showing signs of coming back to earth also. Two weeks ago you couldn’t find .223 for much under $1 a round. Today I am frequently finding it for 60 to 70 cents.
I’m sure Fedgov purchases have a “little” to do with the shortage but mostly it is crazy Schwarzenegger/Sinbad types desperately buying stuff as soon as it comes online. Many offerings disappear within 15 minutes after they are posted.
Target practice on soft, fleshy targets.
Well said, you make excellent points.
You’ve seen the articles on here telling that Obama is getting rid of all officers that won’t fully follow his orders without question, right? When was the last time an officer refused to follow orders because those orders were morally repugnant?
One thing I do know is, when I deployed, Smartest Man in the Whole Wide World, I asked if HP’s were issued. Answer was, NO. Don’t know one thing about you and don’t care to. However, if you had ever served you would know that the US Military doesn’t issue HP’s, except for one job.
And I apologize to your superior intellect. It was the Hague Convention that prohibits ammunition that expand or flatten in the body. Must be tough being so damn smart.
But back to the point, HP’s are not authorized, except for one MOS, Snipers. And it was a very specific round. In fact, one of the biggest issues overseas was that the rounds that are issued, since they are FMJ and don’t expand like a HP, is that they went thru the target and didn’t have the same type of stopping power that a HP does.
Not with the M9, M4, M249 SAW, M240B, M2 .50 Caliber machine gun. And I shot them all.
D Bag!!!
First Interceptor I’ve seen for months...
http://www.surplusammo.com/22-lr-aguila-intercepter-40-grain-solid-point-500-round-brick/
An FFL friend of mine set up at a show in Texas. Sold his stock of 5.56 to someone that walked over and paid cash. Watched the guy walk over to another table, up the price by $200 and sold out as fast as he could take the money and give receipts.
Dang. Here come those Spanish conquistadores again looking for those seven cities of gold.
DHS would better serve if it bought border fence in bulk!
See post 117.
Turns out they gots to.
We're paying retail, but we don't have the fancy patches and name tags and such, either.
Don’t forget the expense of securely storing all that ammo when you figure the ‘savings’, either. Cool, dry, and where it won’t be subjected to a variety of other factors which might either deplete the stocks or render them useless.
He's our County Sheriff, now.
Bustin' caps is fun, and if you expect CQB could be essential, if done right.
But get a good rifle and scope and be able to effectively hit targets from long range, if you are in a situation where you can make use of that. One shot, one bullseye...
That's because the Founding Fathers had the will to fight, and didn't let the British confiscate, even though news traveled only as quickly as the fastest horse. Today with instant worldwide communication, which could easily be shut down by the powers that be, the word can either be spread very quickly, or not at all due to the proliferation of road blocks and air traffic control.
I said the same thing from the getgo. Their own way to kill the 2nd Amendment, bypassing Congress as is their usual MO.
When will this evil be stopped? And Bozo has 3 yrs. and 9 mos. to go to complete his destruction of the country and all of us along with it. I despise those that gave him another 4 years.
No one in their right mind trusts this administration as far as they can spit into a hurricane.
The belief that the administration will engage in hostilities with the populace has been bolstered by comments made in high places, and people are already on edge, especially when policy seems quite contrary to the well being of the nation and its people.
Anticipated problems might come in the form of financial collapse, loss of reserve currency status and hyperinflation, or other factors initiating what had been jokingly referred to as the 'zombie apocalypse'.
There may be those uninformed who believe that such would involve a brief period of hostilities and a return to relative normalcy without some of the liberal nonsense and expense we endure today, but I am not so optimistic should civil order break down.
If people will look at the effects of civil war on Sarajevo, which had hosted the Olympics, they can apply that to their own back yard in a "what if?". No hostilities should be undertaken lightly, and the effects of such will resonate for generations.
That aside, it is easy to expect the worst from this administration, and anything which appears to be a fulfillment of those expectations will be taken as such, whether it is SOP or something different.
We all need to be rational if we expect America to survive.
So while you're out scrounging up twenty thousand rounds for that 1911, keep your mind on who we are going to run against incumbents from both parties in order to get this country back on the right track.
Plan for the worst, work for the best, and the clock is ticking on the latter.
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