Social Security Administration Explains Plan to Buy 174,000 Hollow-Point Bullets

(CNSNews.com) – The Social Security Administration posted a blog on Thursday to explain why it was planning to purchase 174,000 hollow point bullets.

SSA posted a "Request for Quote for Ammunition" on the FedBizOps.gov website on Aug. 7. The request listed the commodity that SSA desired as ".357 Sig 125 grain bonded jacketed hollow point pistol ammunition." The quantity listed was "174 TH."

The SSA’s Office of the Inspector General’s said it posted a new blog on the agency’s website, “Beyond the Numbers,” “as we strive to be a transparent and accountable government organization for all of our stakeholders.

“With those goals in mind, we thought it would be appropriate to address recent media reports regarding the organization’s purchase of ammunition for our special agents’ duty weapons,” the blog post states.

The blog states that the SSA has 295 special agents who work in 66 offices across the United States.

“These investigators have full law enforcement authority, including executing search warrants and making arrests,” the blog post states. “Our investigators are similar to your State or local police officers.

“They use traditional investigative techniques, and they are armed when on official duty,” the blog post states.

For my part, I could care less how much the Pentagon Force Protection Agency grows. I have no idea how crowded the Pentagon is, or how many civilian guards they need hanging around there. I guess we will need more Border Patrol agents to help and protect illegals on their way to amnesty. They can give them instructions on how to claim benefits, and programs to help them make the transition to living in America. Considering the number of illegals in our prisons, maybe we should be increasing federal prison guards, American Correctional Association, instead of the Border Patrol, or better yet, they should use Border Patrol to guard our over crowded state prisons. Just hire the hell out of them. And why just arm SSA special agents? Give all the SSA employees firearms, and call them federal police. Let them join with the DEA, the FBI, and lets not forget the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing, or Community Oriented Policing Services, postal inspectors, the U.S. Marshals Service, Homeland Security, the Secret Service. Now that I think of it, a few hundred armed SSA agents are just a drop in the bucket. They should all get together, and form competing SWAT teams. They could work with local law enforcement, and practice shooting people’s dogs, and breaking into the wrong houses to terrorize families. Be sure and get TSA to go with them to feel up the women and children lying on their floors. It would be a shame to not take advantage of their expertise.

You’ve been at FR since 2004, why ask me to speak for FR? You do it. As far as I’m concerned the federal government is far too big, and far to unlimited. That includes federal law enforcement. Everyone is a cop. Forest Service workers are cops, EPA workers are cops, the USACE guys are cops. When it comes to government employees, they might as well all be cops. Buy them guns and ammo, and give them Homeland Security’s list of possible terrorists, Baptist, hunters, veterans, people who voted for Bush, what have you. If you like it, defend it. I don’t care for this growing police state, and I find it indefensible. I don’t know how imaginary Obama’s “fantasy Martial Law imposition” is or isn’t. We would have to look at figures since 2008 to get an idea of the federal government’s growth, including law enforcement, since he his rule by fiat. We aren’t exactly dealing with a man who respects the law and customs of this land, so why should we trust him to not abuse his authority through the use of his law enforcement agencies? Oh yeah, they are busy. Maybe he will have to invite the UN to help.

Can’t say that I agree with you. Every government hand-out program is rife with fraud and corruption, so every government hand-out program has a separate OIG (investigation units) bureaucracy. You would be surprised how many arrests they make, and the agents are armed for their own protection.

What we need are fewer government programs, so we wouldn’t need all the law enforcement to go with them. It’s just one more example of how government begets more government.

Well, hopefully I’ll make the right decision but I shoot way more than they do.

Xbox, skeet, clay rabbits, singles, doubles, triples....don’t care. I have better equipment so shooting me as they crush my door would be their best option...unless I make it any one of my weapons first....

Then it’s on like Donkey Kong....

Frickin idiots

174,000 divided by 295 officers? How many shots have they fired in the line of duty in the last decade? The last 3 years? How many to they plan to fire in the next 4?

So less than 600 rounds per officer. You know what I call 600 rounds? A nice weekend at the range.

600 rounds per officer in a year....some law enforcement agencies require a lot more than that at the practice range just to stay qualified. If it's only 600 rounds per person total.....take out a 100 or more for actual operations, leaving them with probably 450 or less to qualify every year. Why are we even trusting these people with guns if they are qualifying with such a low number of rounds??

295 CIs divided into 174K rounds= 590 rounds apiece. Even with range time that's a hell of a lot of rounds for agents who presumably would rarely fire in line of duty. This stinks.

I am by no means defending the administration, or the previous administrations that thought it wise to have armed agents within the Social Security Administration, but 590 rounds apiece is not "a hell of a lot of rounds for agents who presumably would rarely fire in line of duty." Especially if these people spend most of their time desk-bound. I could burn through more than 590 rounds in a weekend. As a matter of fact, I have went through a lot more than that in a weekend.

I started in law enforcement in ‘97. Back then, and pretty much every year thereafter, there were always vacancy announcements for the Border Patrol. They have and still do, have such a high attrition rate that its hard to keep up. Alot of the guys used it as a gateway into the federal system and then moved to another agency.
The Secret Service also has a hard time keeping folks. Sounds real glamorous but in reality it isn’t. They guard the Pres, VP and a small handful of others. Rest of the time, its credit card fraud and counterfeiting. They lose a ton of guys to the ATF, which may explain a lot.
They can hire all the CBP folks they want, if they don’t let them do their jobs, then its just another entitlement program for the folks that get the job.

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