US Post Office Is Buying Bullets, Lots And Lots Of Bullets

The US Post Office is now counted among the federal agencies posting advertisement to purchase copious amounts of bullets. Some Second Amendment advocates are concerned about the large amounts of ammunition being purchased, according to a NewsMax report.

The USPS posted a notice on its website requesting bids for various types of bullets. The notice on the Postal Service website under the heading “Assorted Small Arms Ammunition” said, “The United States Postal Service intends to solicit proposals for assorted small arms ammunition. If your organization wishes to participate, you must pre-register. This message is only a notification of our intent to solicit proposals.”

Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is speaking to the media and questioning the need for arming US Post Officer staffers. Committee Chairman Alan Gottlieb said, “We’re seeing a highly unusual amount of ammunition being bought by the federal agencies over a fairly short period of time. To be honest, I don’t understand why the federal government is buying so much at this time.”

National Shooting Sports Foundation Director Jake McGuigan also has raised eyebrows over the massive ammo purchases by federal agencies. McGuigan noted that the unusually large ammunition bid request announcements posted on government websites in the past year or so have prompted “conspiracy-type fears” among many gun owners. According to McGuigan, some firearms owners are concerned that the federal government is attempting to impact the Second Amendment rights of Americans via a back door effort to limit the availability of ammunition on the open market.

After the tragic Sandy Hook school shooting, ammunition and guns flew off the shelves when firearms owners grew concerned about the enactment of gun control laws which would limit what types of weapons and ammo could be purchased or that prices would raise significantly. Many popular types of bullet calibers are still in short supply today.

While it is understandable that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would purchase ammo, there appears to be a significant increase in the order amounts. The DHS requested 450 million rounds of ammo as the FBI sought about 100 million hollow-point rounds. The requests to fill ammunition orders by a host of federal agencies that are not regularly viewed as an entity with law enforcement functions, continue to ignite questions and angst.

In late 2012, the Social Security Administration posted a purchasing request for 174,000 rounds of.357 125 grain bonded jacketed hollow point bullets. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) began seeking 320,000 rounds of ammo around the same time. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAH) also posted a notice seeking 46,000 rounds of ammunition. Virginia Citizens Defense League President Philip Van Cleave asked the question many Americans, gun owner or not, were wondering about; why does the weather service need bullets?

Van Cleave had this to say about the non-law enforcement federal agencies purchasing significant amounts of ammunition:

“NOAA — really? They have a need? One just doesn’t know why they’re doing this,” he said. “The problem is, all these agencies have their own SWAT teams, their own police departments, which is crazy. In theory, it was supposed to be the U.S. marshals that was the armed branch for the federal government. What’s the need for that” Do we really need this? That was something our Founding Fathers did not like and we should all be concerned about.”

What do you think about the US Post Office buying ammo?