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The ammo shortage in America appears to be getting far worse. A police department in at least one state put out an all-call to residents for bullets. Proctor, Minnesota Police Chief Walter Woberg was told that his officers would have to wait about eight months to fulfill an order of just 1,000 40-caliber rounds.
Chief Woberg has sent letters to Minnesota Senators Al Franken and Amy Klobuhar asking for some type of action to be taken to thwart the ongoing ammo shortage in the United States. As previously reported by Off The Grid News, the Department of Homeland Security has stockpiled unprecedented amounts of ammunition over the past year. No patriotic American would begrudge agents tasked with protecting the country with all the bullets necessary to do their jobs. But, those sitting in an office in positions of authority appear at least extremely greedy and unconcerned about the training and protection needs of police officers and typical American gun owners.
The Minnesota police chief in dire need of ammunition for his officers had this to say about asking for the loan of bullets from citizens:
“The citizens were like, ‘If you need something, we got plenty here.’ I had several other calls from other citizens that said, ‘Hey, if you need more ammunition we have plenty.’ I know that if I need ammunition, I have citizens out there that will gladly come forward.”
While the support for the Proctor Police Department is commendable, the law enforcement agency should not have to turn to the taxpayers to garner bullets. Residents should also not have to feel that their town will go unprotected and officers’ lives be endangered if privately owned ammo is not shared. After all, the residents face at least the same ammunition purchasing delays as the police department, if not more. Chief Woberg will replace all ammo given to the department once his order is fulfilled, but eight months is an awful long time to be half-stocked with ammo should civil unrest prompted by a man-made or natural disaster occur.
The Department of Homeland Security is reportedly planning to purchase 750 million more rounds in the near future; 360,000 of those rounds are for hollow point bullets. The federal agency already bought 2 billion bullets over the course of the past year. Republican Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe feels that the President Barack Obama’s administration is attempting to deprive others of ammo and “dry up the market.”
Senator Inhofe had this to say about the ammo purchasing habits of the Department of Homeland Security:
“We have in this country, the Second Amendment, that preserves the right to keep and bear arms, and the president doesn’t believe in that. President Obama has been doing everything he could to stop the private ownership of guns in America. Yet he’s been voted down in a big way by a large majority, and so my feeling is that he’s doing this to buy up [ammunition] so honest, law-abiding citizens here in the United States, like my son, can’t even buy ammunition because government is purchasing so much.”
Richard Duarte, author, attorney, and firearms expert said, “We are often told by a number of elected officials that private citizens don’t need guns since a well-armed police force is there to protect them. To learn that a Minnesota police department is finding it necessary to ask citizens for ammunition seriously undermines the credibility of those officials who would have us give up our rights and our firearms on the unrealistic expectation that we can rely on others for our protection.”
How to hide your guns, and other off grid caches…
When testifying in front of Congress recently, the chief procurement officer at the Department of Homeland Security denied allegations the agency was stockpiling ammo, but did confirm that the open orders of huge proportions had been submitted. According to Senator Inhofe’s statistics, the number of bullets currently on order by the DHS is three times the amount used by our military for defense training.
Oklahoma Senator Inhofe also had this to say when voicing concerns about the ongoing ammo shortage:
“I believe its intention [ammo orders] is just another effort to restrict gun activity and ownership. This has never happened in this country before. We’ve never had government trying to take that much control at the expense of law-abiding citizens. And we’re not going to let it happen.”
Earlier this month the Department of Homeland Security issued a marketing survey asking gun companies if they would be able to provide 2 million rounds of bullets in a short time period. The DHS release has furthered concerns about ammunition stockpiling by the federal agency.
An excerpt from the DHS release reads:
“The purpose of this sources sought notice is to determine how the Government requirements can be met. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC), Glynco, Georgia is anticipating a purchase of Reduced Hazard Training Ammunition (RHTA) for multiple caliber types for use in the training programs for the FLETC sites. This applies to frangible and non-frangible projectiles. FLETC has a requirement for RHTA training ammunition of multiple calibers strictly for law enforcement officer training purposes at multiple training sites in the United States.”
Types of ammunition included in the Department of Homeland Security availability survey
- 9 MM Reduced Hazard, Frangible; 90 -105
- 10MM Reduced Hazard, Frangible; 100-135
- .357 SIG Caliber Reduced Hazard, Frangible; 100-115
- .38 SPL Caliber Reduced Hazard, Frangible; 110-
- .380 Auto Caliber Reduced Hazard, Frangible; 70-75
- .40 S&W Caliber Reduced Hazard, Frangible; 100-135
- .45 Auto Caliber Reduced Hazard, Frangible; 155-
- .223 REM aliber Reduced Hazard, Frangible; 50-55
- .308 WIN Caliber Jacketed, Reduced Hazard; 165-168
- 12 Gauge Steel Shot Target Load, Reduced Hazard; #7
- 12 Gauge #00 Buckshot Full Recoil, Reduced Hazard, Frangible; 8 PELLET
- 12 Gauge #00 Buckshot Reduced Recoil, Reduced Hazard, Frangible; 8 PELLET
- 12 Gauge #00 Buckshot Full Recoil, Reduced Hazard, Frangible; 9 PELLET
- 12 Gauge #00 Buckshot Reduced Recoil, Reduced Hazard, Frangible; 9 PELLET
- 12 Gauge Rifled Slug Full Recoil, Reduced Hazard, Frangible; 1 OZ
- 12 Gauge Rifled Slug Reduced Recoil, Reduced Hazard, Frangible; 1 OZ
- 12 Gauge #4 Buckshot Full Recoil, Reduced Hazard, Frangible; 27 PELLET
- 12 GAUGE #4 Buckshot Reduced Recoil, Reduced Hazard; 27 PELLET
Most of the ammunition on the Department of Homeland Security list is already difficult to find. Many gun stores and even mega-retailers like Walmart, have almost-empty ammunition shelves. Purchasing limits placed upon the number of boxes purchased are becoming more and more common.
Senator Inhofe’s Ammunition Management for More Obtainability Act (AMMO ) legislation is still pending in Congress. If passed, the AMMO Act would not limit ammo purchased by the Department of Defense but would prevent ICE and DHS from stockpiling more bullets than used by the agencies than averagely held between 2001 and 2009. The bill would give the Government Accountability Office the authority to inventory weaponry used by all departments other than the DOD.
How do you feel about ammo shortage in America?
