On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security responded to questions from Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan., about why the agency was allegedly planning to buy some 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition over the next five years. Huelskamp was one of fifteen congressmen that sent a letter to Homeland Security inquiring into the ammunition solicitations and purchases.
Washington Whispers at U.S news and World Report reports:
DHS told Whispers it regularly fills all of its goods and services requirements at one time because it’s cheaper for the agency, and that the 1.6 billion number was misleading because the language of DHS’s purchase said it would need “up to” a certain amount.
One solicitation by the agency—for training centers and law enforcement personnel—was for “up to” 750 million rounds of training ammunition over the next five years, DHS spokesman Peter Boogaard told Whispers.
Another five-year contract allows for the purchase of “up to” 450 million rounds of ammunition, he said, and was also for law enforcement. Boogaard noted that the contract would be used by all DHS agencies except the Coast Guard.
“With more than 100,000 armed law enforcement personnel in DHS, significant quantities of ammunition are used to support law enforcement operations, quarterly qualifications, and training, to include advanced firearms training exercises,”Boogaard told Whispers.
This was not the only letter to be sent out though. Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), who puts out an annual Wastebook referencing all sorts of government waste of tax payer dollars, had sent a letter to DHS.
“DHS routinely establishes strategic sourcing contracts that combine the requirements of all its components for commonly purchased goods and services such as ammunition,” a DHS legislative affairs person wrote to Coburn. “These strategic sourcing contracts help leverage the purchasing power of DHS to efficiently procure equipment and supplies at significantly lower costs,” the department told Coburn.
It is interesting to note just how much ammunition a training center in Georgia uses. The Associated Press, in February of this year, reported “The government’s explanation is less sinister. Federal solicitations to buy the ammo are known as ‘strategic sourcing contracts,’ which help the government get a low price for a big purchase, says Peggy Dixon, spokeswoman for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Ga. The training center and others like it run by the Homeland Security Department use as many as 15 million rounds every year, mostly on shooting ranges and in training exercises.”
One thing that still sticks in my mind is why did DHS purchase hollow point bullets? As I told you in a previous article about a former Marine who has a lot of doubts about DHS’ response. “We never trained with hollow points, we didn’t even see hollow points my entire four and a half years in the Marine Corps,” stated Military Vet Richard Mason. “Why would they need all those hollow points, why would the need all those ball rounds just for training?”
I’ll leave it up to readers to decide if the truth is being told from a department that claims it didn’t know Fast and Furious was taking place for over a year.
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