FBI joins DHS in unusual ammunition purchases

While most Americans are being dealt blow after blow of arctic temperatures, and the White House blows $12,000 of tax payer money on the Mrs. Obama, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently placed a solicitation for millions of rounds of .45 Auto ammunition, with an upper limit not to exceed $12,000,000 dollars and a minimum of $20,000. Yet, does America really have 12 million dollars to spend on excess ammo?

The FBI is seeking a supplier to supply ammunition based on the following criteria, abbreviated for space:

Service Ammunition – The projectile must be a jacketed hollow point or equivalent.  It is desirable that the service projectile consistently penetrate an average of 12” to 18” throughout FBI gelatin tests.  The bullet shall not be a full metal jacket design or appearance.

Training – The Training projectile shall be a full metal jacket (FMJ) design or have a similar appearance.  The projectile shall not exhibit a hollow point.

Training Reduced Lead – The Training Reduced Lead projectile shall be of a full metal jacket (FMJ) design or have a similar appearance.  The projectile shall not exhibit a hollow point.

Frangible – The Frangible projectile shall contain less than 1% lead.  It shall break apart when impacting steel with a minimum thickness of 1/4”. The projectile shall not exhibit a hollow point.

The FBI requests that the supplier enter into a five-year contract, with a base year and four, one year extensions.

Within the Statement of Work, all pricing is listed as “x 1,000,000”, giving the estimated total amount of requested ammunition as 4 million rounds over the next 5 years.

Recent Government Ammunition Purchases

The FBI is not alone in these large purchases. Since the start of the Obama Administration, Government agencies have broken new records in the purchase of firearms and ammunition, and this action has fed concerns not only in the average American, but also raising eyebrows in Congress.

Some of the more recent purchases:

• Sniper Ammunition: Homeland Security Revives The Purchases
• Going Postal: The Post Office wants ammunition after Senator’s proposal
• 4 Million Rounds Of Ammunition A Year For An Agency That Won’t Enforce Immigration Law

No one can fault the FBI’s need to purchase ammunition for training and for service. The issue lies in the “one-shot” quantitiy that is being requested, and further, the costs.

It has been frequently seen that the Government will pay a premium price, when a discount is available. The average citizen depends on bargains and coupons to make their incomes stretch. We just want the Government to live within their means, and be better stewards of the public coffers. Perhaps being smarter in the ammunition purchases will demonstrate that devotion to duty.