Posted on 04/26/2013 8:06:28 AM PDT by yoe
Officials at the Department of Homeland Security denied Thursday that its large-scale ammunition purchases were an effort keep bullets out of the hands of private citizens.
At a hearing on Capitol Hill Thursday, top DHS training officer Humberto Medina said he could "say categorically that was not a factor at all" in the purchases. He also noted that ammunition DHS purchased would be used for both operations and training purchases.
The ( Associated Press reported) in February that DHS was planning to buy more than 1.6 billion rounds over the next five years, a number that sparked fears of government stockpiling – which DHS previously denied to Whispers. Officials told lawmakers DHS actually was planning to buy only up to 750 million rounds.
But Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said it still looked like the government was unnecessarily amassing ammunition.
"The idea that you have to have excess rounds, year after year, flies in the face of common sense," Issa said. Medina argued that DHS keeps a reserve of ammunition because of market fluctuations and because of past problems with vendors.
In fiscal year 2012, DHS purchased more than 103 million rounds of ammunition, to be used by about 70,000 DHS officers who are currently authorized to use weapons. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, said Thursday that "the math" didn't make sense, pointing out that this means an average 1300-1600 rounds per DHS officer – some 1000 rounds more than the average for an officer in the Army.
DHS agents and officers need extensive training because they are "exposed to a variety of situations" and "only have that weapon to protect their lives," Medina said. "They can't contact air support [like an officer in an army could.] They have to be proficient at a very high level."
And we’d expect them to admit it because???
In other conspiracy theory news, the Department of Health is solving obesity by buying up the national supply of potato chips.
Why can’t the House block all this?
Find the ammo, confiscate it, and donate it to THE N.R.A.
Good campaign promise for the repugs. (never happen)
Never believe anything until the government officially denies it.
I liver 60 miles north of Atlanta. Yesterday I drove up to WalMart at 6:30 AM as I have done every day for a month or two now, looking to get some 22LR ammo so my daughter and I could go plinking.
There was a Fulton County car parked outside and I didn’t think much except to think not common. Inside at the counter were 3 people lined up coveting the cart that had last nights ammo....lots this time because they’d not gotten anything in 4 days. 22LR, 223, 7.62X39, 40 S&W, 9 mm (some in 100 rd value packs), 45 ACP, 357 SIG, a lot...
One of the others was a Fulton County Detective with badge, gun, the works. He got three boxes of ammo, the limit allowed.
Somebody here besides a Rambo, ex-SWAT, SEAL, etc. tell me why you need hollow point rounds to train - why 1000 rounds? They’re more expensive and they kill that paper no more dead than a ball round.
Don’t tell me you have to ‘train with what you shoot’....you aren’t in Fallujah or raiding Osama’s compund, you aren’t up against armored perps with full auto AKs - any of that. You’re just shooting up a frigging fiberglass boat and claiming the perp inside is shooting back at you.
The results of this ‘training’ need crap are doing what they intended. Slow the ammunition flow to the public, but the unintended result is that detective had to go a long way to get his three boxes of ammo.
[BTW, I did get my 325 rd box of Remington 22LR along with a 100 rd box of 9mm, and one box of ball 45ACP...bill was $59 and change...it felt like Christmas]
If the rounds were for practice, they would buy the less expensive round nose or semi-wadcutters instead of hollow points.
Their standard reply is “train with what you use.”
The D in DHS stands for...DENIAL!
“I could say categorically that...”
Then say it.
Besides, it’s not like they have to be frugal with taxpayer money or anything.
B***S****
There are liars, damned liars and then there are Obama lackeys.
Kind of off topic but I was out plinking yesterday and 1 out of 10 of my Winchester Wildcat .22 did not fire. Anyone else have this happen to them?
How can you tell when DHS is lying?
When they issue a statement.
Thats a relief. Government is good. The more the better. /sarc.
I’m sayin......defund DHS.
all they had to do is redefine “civilian” to make this statement a non-lie.
Aimed at civilians? no.
Aimed at “enemy combatants?” Yes1
Enemy Combatants = Tea Partiers, Christians, Conservatives, etc.
But the ammo soon will be......
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