You just said they could buy as little as little as a thousand rounds. Did I misunderstand you? Did you misspeak?
No, they could, but when does the government every undercut its own budget? (think baseline budgeting, they will make sure to fill it over the five year period just so they can keep their department’s budget growing). It is a better ‘risk’ than a similar order to a private supplier.
The point is this isn’t a purchase, just a pricing contract.
People are going all chicken little over normal events. Stuff like this just keeps people living in fear instead of being empowered.
(Also, note that this seems to be an annual ‘fear’ people get. In 2009 people were freaking out over a similar order, 200 million to ICE - http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2407642/posts )