What in the Sam Hill is going on?
I've seen a couple of these stories over the last week but hadn't thought much about it until now and realized what is happening, very quietly, with several of our federal agencies. First there was the story about the Department of Homeland Security purchasing 750 million rounds of high powered ammunition, many hollow point type bullets. OK, that seems like a lot but DHS is in the business of law enforcement. Then it was the National Weather Service buying 46,000 rounds of hollow point bullets. I was not aware the NWS employees carried guns; is that to arrest rogue hurricanes or tornadoes? Maybe the ones that hit predominantly blue states. Now the Social Security Administration is buying 174,000 rounds, once again hollow point, high powered ammo.
The DHS is having their ammo purchases shipped to dozens of different locations. According to the FebBizOps website, the NWS wants 16K rounds of S&W jacketed hollow point bullets, noted for their stopping power, to be delivered to Ellsworth ME and New Bedford Mass. 6K rounds will be sent to Wall NJ and 24K are headed to St. Petersburg FL. The SSA solicitation has a spreadsheet showing the ammo is to be shipped to 41 different locations, mostly in major U.S. cities. Is it any coincidence that the Federal Reserve has told top banks to prepare for civil unrest if the time comes when people are denied their benefits? Now, the NOAA said the solicitation for the National Weather Service was a "clerical error" and the ammo was to be shipped to Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement. Really? Why the numerous locations, where there aren't Fisheries offices?
Why hollow point bullets? Hollow points have been "illegal" in international warfare since 1899. But I guess those are OK to use against unruly citizens. A DHS spokesman pointed out the purchase of 500 paper targets and said much of the ammunition would be used in practice and certification activities. Uh-huh. How long do they expect 500 paper targets to last using hundreds of millions of rounds?
I'm wondering just who the feds are preparing to defend against? The NBPP if Obama isn't re-elected. The Tea Party if he is. Or maybe, given past actions of the federal government, the Mexican cartels need higher powered ammo.