Ammo is tough to find in almost every popular caliber. Even reloading supplies are rarified. Gunbroker.com has listings of a single case of primers auctioning off at up to $100. Four months ago it was between $26-$31 per case off the shelf at Sportsman's Warehouse. Finding propellant, projectiles and cases are equally challenging.
Why have several U.S. legislators been stone-walled as to why the Department of Homeland Security has purchased 1.6 trillion rounds of ammo in the past year, hoarding it - stuck in a warehouse somewhere (a really big warehouse)? Is the DHS anticipating a massive uprising or invasion?
That is 1.6 trillion rounds of ammo with no explanation. Civilian intelligence analyst for Naval Intelligence, Colonel Hayes of the USMC, Retired, estimated it took 25,000 rounds for Americans to kill a single soldier during WWII. Wiki estimates 19.7 billion rounds were fired from all sides and the DHS is now hoarding over 81 times the number of rounds fired during that war. Conservative calculations indicate the DHS now has enough ammo for a 20 plus year war. Not the military, but Homeland Security.
Police departments around the country are begging, bartering, borrowing or trading ammo, cutting practice sessions to twice (or less) a year, even directing officers to keep fewer rounds in their guns because of the acute shortage. So, if you're wondering where all the ammo went, at least you know in which direction to look.
David D. Fihn
* * *
I haven't the foggiest where all the ammo went, but it certainly didn't go to the Department of Homeland Security. That's because you have been duped by, hoodwinked into believing, or just like spreading the half-baked conspiracy theories cooked up in the fever swamps of the ubiquitous right-wing Internet blogosphere, and whose one stock in trade is paranoia. These ridiculous claims, like yours, have been so thoroughly debunked, by facts, that they would be laughable if they weren't so sad.
It's nothing short of amazing how an original claimed figure of a mass simultaneous purchase of 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition - a ridiculous assertion in its own right - could morph, overnight, into 1.6 trillion rounds. Yet that's the work of minds that devote 24 hours a day trying to delegitimize a President elected by an overwhelming majority of the American people - an effort that's largely about nothing more than the color of the man's skin.
Try living in the real world sometime. You'll find it a whole lot less stressful.
Lonnie Hatmaker - Chattanooga
* * *
This crazy rumor gets bigger every time it is printed. Trillions of bullets? Please supply your sources for this outrageous tidbit of misinformation.
Harry Presley
Chattanooga
* * *
I think there has been some inflation of circumstances surrounding this shortage. It drives me nuts not being able to buy ammo. If I do find some, it's priced way out of the realm of "fair."
We can't, however, blame the DHS. A few points I would like to touch on would start with the numbers. The initial reports of their purchase were in the tens of millions. Then hundreds of millions. The final internet tally seems to be 1.6 billion rounds. Either way, it's nowhere near 1.6 trillion.
The DHS is an umbrella that covers huge areas of government to include Border Patrol, ICE, DOJ and an almost endless list of other agencies. The 1.6 billion bullets is a huge number, but it's not so big when you think about how many folks they have under the "DHS umbrella."
Also, the ammo shortage has most affected .22 ammunition. There isn't a government agency anywhere that I can think of that has any interest in .22 ammunition. I remember being able to buy thousands of rounds last year for what, $20? Now its $15/100 rounds if you can even find it at all. This isn't because the government is buying it up. Its because everyone is in the ammo-shortage boat, and buys whatever they can find, whenever they can find it, regardless of price. People that have never owned a gun before are rushing to stores to clean the shelves. People that keep a pile of 100 or so rounds on hand are buying thousands of rounds any chance they get for fear of not being able to replenish. This overall panic buying will settle down, and supply will catch back up with demand.
In a nutshell, any agency that requires ammunition would be foolish not to buy more than they need. They may not be able to replenish as fast as they are used to. Also, I highly doubt there is a police department in the country that is telling its officers to carry less ammunition in their guns because of the shortage. The ammo in a gun stays there. Nobody is going to risk their life by carrying half the ammo just so they can practice with a couple more rounds. OK, maybe New York with the new seven round limit. But they also tried to ban big sodas. Different world up there to begin with, so you can't really make a fair comparison.
But for the rest of the country, be patient, it'll level out. And for Pete's sake, quit spending insane amounts of money for ammunition. That only feeds the frenzy and prolongs the problem.
Andrew Peker
Hixson
* * *
No doubt Limbaugh, Faux news, Beck, Drudge, NRA and Kochs have fried your brain.
Watch out for the black helicopters and don't fall off the corner of the earth.
Mark Rudisill
* * *
Wither goest thou, ammo? Take a quick peek, all of you quick debunkers, at the Federal Business Opportunities referencing specifically Notice 13 Solicitation Number HSFLAR-13-Q-00020 which is an IFB (invitation for bids) for 165 grain .40 cal. jacketed hollow points, and lots of it...and just hit a couple of days ago. Boys and girls, this ain't .22 rifle squirrel shooting equipment. Supposedly for training, the order comes from the good old DHS.
So, all of you who are not familiar with weaponry, perhaps you can ask a friend with a bit more knowledge just why, all of a sudden, expensive and powerful hollow point ammo is being thrown down range in training exercises? Aren't we already out of money?
Hutch Smith
Signal Mountain