DHS Explains Plans To Buy 1.6B Rounds Of Ammo: We’re Buying in Bulk to ‘Significantly Lower Costs’

Before It’s Newsby Gregory Gwyn-Williams, Jr., CNS News

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has responded to a letter dated November 13, 2012 from Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) regarding the agency’s ammunition purchases.

Sen. Coburn published the response on the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs website yesterday, April 1, 2013.  

The response, dated February 4, 2013, says that DHS buys ammunition in bulk to “significantly lower costs.”

The letter states:

“DHS routinely establishes strategic sourcing contracts that combine the requirements of all its Components for commonly purchased goods and services such as ammunition, computer equipment and information technology services. These strategic sourcing contracts help leverage the purchasing power of DHS to efficiently procure equipment and supplies at significantly lower costs.”

While it has been previously reported that DHS has solicited the purchase of 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition over the next four to five years, the government agency shows only 263,733,362 rounds in its current inventory.

Read More Here

Open letter to all Federal Firearms Licensees

Responses to Senator Coburn’s November 13, 2012 Letter

1.   How many rounds of ammunition has the Department purchased during each of the
past three fiscal years?  How much did these acquisitions cost?

CBP = U.S. Customs and Border Protection
FLETC = Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
NPPD/FPS = National Protection and Programs Directorate/Federal Protective Service
ICE = U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
TSA = Transportation Security Administration
USCG = U.S. Coast Guard
USSS = U.S. Secret Service

FY 2010   FY 2011   FY 2012
DHS   Rounds   Rounds   Rounds
Component   purchased   Cost   purchased   Cost   purchased   Cost
CBP   66,248,000   $17,376,248   48,461,000   $13,895,900   36,475,000  $12,255,040
FLETC   17,056,000   $5,507,057   22,735,654   $7,062,254   7,678,946   $2,485,045
NPPD/FPS   2,946,000   $976,621   1,498,000   $517,412   2,804,000   $928,345
ICE    25,212,000   $7,703,308   13,221,000   $4,505,731   28,061,000   $6,633,460
TSA   15,383,000   $2,818,760   7,124,000   $2,010,642   14,864,000   $4,484,581
USCG   17,472,325   $11,465,150   6,782,540   $8,442,495   9,791,274   $8,309,944
USSS   3,997,500   $2,097,971   8,841,860   $1,802,871   3,503,980   $1,439,495
Total DHS   148,314,825   $47,945,115  108,664,054   $38,237,305  103,178,200  $36,535,910

2.   Does DHS plan to purchase more ammunition in the current fiscal year?   How much is
budgeted for ammunitions acquisitions?

FY 2013 Estimates for
DHS Components   Ammunition Acquisitions
CBP   $12,528,146
FLETC   $5,900,000
NPPD/FPS    $470,000
ICE    $5,200,000
TSA   $4,515,552
USCG   $7,400,000
USSS   $1,250,000
Total DHS   $37,263,698

January 2013      1
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Open letter to all Federal Firearms Licensees
3.   How many rounds of ammunition does the Department currently have in its inventory?
How are these rounds allocated to each of its agencies?

Component Inventory
DHS Components   as of November 20, 2012
CBP   94,404,329
FLETC   18,797,942
NPPD/FPS    2,500,000
ICE     42,300,000
TSA   29,909,514
USCG   70,258,197
USSS   5,563,380
Total DHS   263,733,362

4.  Please describe how DHS (and its component agencies) plan to use this ammunition.
How many rounds are allocated for training?  How many are allocated for operational
use?  How many rounds are allocated for other purposes?

CBP:  Approximately 70 percent of CBP ammunition is used for quarterly qualifications,
mandated firearms training, advanced firearms training, as well as testing and evaluation.
Twenty percent of CBP ammunition is allocated to maintaining CBP’s operational posture.  This
includes rounds for duty use, as well as for maintaining CBP’s special response teams.  The
remaining 10 percent is dedicated to maintaining ammunition reserves at both the national and
local levels  .

FLETC:  All FLETC ammunition is purchased, distributed, and used for law enforcement
training.  No ammunition is allocated for operational or other use.

NPPD/FPS:  FPS allocates 1,000 rounds of ammunition per firearm per year for quarterly
qualifications and training, to include advanced firearms training exercises, as well as
ammunition to support law enforcement operations.

ICE:  ICE allocates 1,000 rounds of ammunition per firearm per year for quarterly qualifications
and training, to include advanced firearms training exercises, special response team training, and
ammunition to support law enforcement operations.

TSA:  Approximately 21 million rounds of TSA’s current inventory are reduced-hazard,
lead-free frangible training ammunition, which is used exclusively for training.  The remaining
rounds are duty ammunition, which are used for both training and operational purposes.  Overall,
approximately 35 percent of TSA ammunition is allocated for operational use (qualifications and
duty carry).  Fewer than 100,000 rounds are used for other purposes annually, including firearms
testing and evaluation.

USCG:  USCG allocates its ammunition inventory for Non-Combat Expenditure Allowance
(NCEA) and ship-fill purposes.  The NCEA, available to both shore units and cutters, is used for
training and for non-defense operations including maritime law enforcement operations.  USCG
ship-fill allowances are specific to cutters and are designed for use on defense operations.
January 2013      2
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Open letter to all Federal Firearms Licensees

USSS:  USSS plans to use the above mentioned ammunition for training, research, and
operational use as needed to maintain professional firearms proficiency.  Based on a review of
recent historical data, USSS plans to allocate approximately 60 percent of the ammunition for
training, 38 percent for operational use, and 2 percent for quality control testing of all
ammunition and function firing of all new and repaired weapons.

5.  Please detail approximately how many rounds DHS and its component agencies have
used for training and operational purposes during the past three fiscal years.

FY 2010   FY 2011   FY 2012
DHS   Training   Operationa  Training   Operational   Training   Operational
Component   purpose   l purposes   purpose   purposes   purpose   purposes
CBP   42,616,129   13,888,595   33,380,176   13,830,548  23,358,285   14,550,803
FLETC   23,391,012   0   20,800,782   0  16,939,215   0
FPS/NPPD    2,356,800   589,200   1,198,400   299,600   5,798,400   1,449,600
ICE    20,169,600   5,042,400   10,576,800   2,644,200  22,448,800   5,612,200
TSA   8,200,000   4,400,000   8,200,000   4,400,000   8,200,000   4,400,000
USCG   9,406,788   2,384   9,969,412   3,989   9,461,664   9,004
USSS   3,298,910   1,230,800   3,086,200   2,340,740   2,133,570   1,866,240
Total DHS   109,439,239   25,153,379   87,211,770   23,519,077  88,339,934   27,887,847

January 2013      3
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19 thoughts on “DHS Explains Plans To Buy 1.6B Rounds Of Ammo: We’re Buying in Bulk to ‘Significantly Lower Costs’

    1. Nope I`m not buying it either Cathleen. Them feds already tried to fill us all up with their lies a long time ago, they must think we are stupid as they are.

  1. The original DHS response (later changed just before release):

    Yeah,.. you caught us,.. we’re going to use these rounds to blow your f*k’n brains out!

    Now piss off – DHS

  2. Of course, everyone knows that democratic bureaucrats have a knack for being frugal with taxpayer money…
    Seriously, DHS is the nascent beginnings of an agency that will attempt to force the citizens at gun point into leaving their homes, separating families & eventually into camps.
    Think that’s crazy? So would any one of the 100+ million souls who went through just that in the last 90 years by their own government.
    It too will happen here.

  3. But why are they buying hollow-point bullets? If the goal is to save money, why not buy the much cheaper full metal jacket bullets?

    Maybe the reason has something to do with this…

    “I have no idea why they would need 1.6 billion rounds, but the reality is that it is essential to train with the same ammo as you would use in real situations,” Steven Howard, a Michigan-based attorney, and weapons and ammunition expert, told FoxNews.com.

    Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/29/homeland-security-buying-pricey-ammo-as-department-wide-cuts-take-hold/#ixzz2PNLcQ8Fd

    1. BAHAHAAHAHA!!!! ROLMFAO!!! That’s Fox news for ya. Paid for by your government to say what they want Fox news to say. They are about as dumb as the government itself at making excuses.

      If you listened to the REAL experts, they say no one in the right mind would waste money and train with the real expensive hollow point ammo and would only want and need to train with cheaper practice ammo.

  4. If these claims are true, who are the companies the contracts are awarded to? Are they U.S. manufactures? If we had a real president, none of this would be happening anyway.

  5. there is no difference in practice ammo if they are FMJ or hollow point…24 grain is 24 grain….I can hit a bullseye at 15-20 feet with both FMJ and Hollow Point using the exact same sightings…the only difference is the amount of damage it does to the target, and I dont mean the paper targets. Its ironic, they use OUR money to buy THEIR hollow points, to shoot US. The reason for this buy was also to jam up the ammo supply to the public. And they use OUR money to do it.

  6. Malware alert! Ammoland.com has been compromised with the DHS “Your computer has been locked. Pay us $300 or you will go to jail….” BS message. Antimalware will get rid of it. Just an FYI. Consider the source.

  7. Hmmm

    Perhaps a little research is in order. The numbers that DHS provided for annual total ammunition consumption look extremely high. Perhaps a look back say 10 years ago to see if those are inflated numbers.

    Second if this was done as a cost saving measure I want to know just how much they are paying per round per type of round. And I want to compare these prices to previous purchases to verify that there is a significant cost savings. And third does the calculation for cost savings include the write off for unused ammunition that has to be taken out of service when it gets to old.

    And finally I want the head of Homeland Security and the person who’s name is on these contracts for both the government and each major company providing the ammunition to appear before a Congressional committee to testify under oath that all of this is true.

  8. Sure and the 2700 armored personnel carriers recently distribute to police depts nationwide are for practice and cost saving as well.

    Maybe someone should show them the FBI training pamphlet that states “believing in the constitution, attending organized churches and having a Ron Paul bumper sticker” marks you as a homegrown terrorist.

  9. This is a bluff by dhs to make everyone fear and tremble in boots at their “power” and shock and awe type of propoganda….. just like we did in iraq during the 1st and 2nd illegal wars there. its all a power move meant to intimidate we the people. it also locks up the ammo supply chain so that we cannot keep arming up. but most soldiers who saw this coming, armed up long ago(like this grunt) because the fedgov gangsters are scared shitless at the amount of guns/ammo which have been sold since obummer has illegally taken the office of president. i wont even honor that crook with the proper title now or ever.

  10. The response, dated February 4, 2013, says that DHS buys ammunition in bulk to “significantly lower costs.”

    BAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHA!!! ROLMFAO!!!

    Oh man….that was truly a hilariously, funny joke to wake up to in the morning. They should be on stand-up comedy, doing “Big Sis is so fat” jokes.

    I swear, our government’s excuses for doing something are getting worse than the Chinese government excuses when I was in China.

    OH WAIT! That’s right! China owns our government. I guess that would make sense, now wouldn’t it?

  11. This is just an arms race to horde the ammo and prevent WE THE PEOPLE from stocking up on ammo. It’s a legalized way of stealing and starving us out of ammo. Since they can’t get at our guns just yet, they are buying up all the ammo in the meantime to prevent us from getting any. The stupid ammo companies who have any clue or brain as to what is going on should break or cancel all of their contracts with the government that say that the government’s needs should be filled first. After that, they should only fulfill ammo and gun orders for WE THE PEOPLE.

    It’s ridiculous that they haven’t done so already, unless they are either being blackmailed by our government or are in cahoots with the government while pretending to be on the side of WE THE PEOPLE.

  12. Ok, but when did TSA have the right to carry a weapon? They are nothing more than mall security at the airport, trains stations, bus stations, etc. with no guns. So now they can have the right to carry guns and ammunition while on the job? Since when?

  13. “While it has been previously reported that DHS has solicited the purchase of 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition over the next four to five years, the government agency shows only 263,733,362 rounds in its current inventory.”

    Give ’em a break, guys. After all, they were ALL the way down to ONLY 263 MILLION rounds.

    I can see why they were desperate to buy more.

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