Not Enough Ammo to Go Around

Some police departments across America are encountering problems in getting the ammo they need for their rifles, due to shortages brought on by the Iraq war.

WSLS News Channel 10

Pulaski County sheriff's deputies have powerful rifles that will better protect you...

That quote cracked me up too. First sentence.

Anyway, PDs are being told to order ammunition months in advance to prevent delay. Any thoughts on whether this is a natural result of production capacity being stretched by demand, or a concerted effort at price manipulation by the manufacturers, or some other sinister plot to deprive the homeland of necessary ammunition?

Any thoughts?

[edit on 3-5-2005 by WyrdeOne]

[edit on 3-5-2005 by WyrdeOne]

[edit on 3-5-2005 by WyrdeOne]

[edit on 3-5-2005 by WyrdeOne]

[edit on 3-5-2005 by WyrdeOne]

wow! i didnt realize that we had such a shortage.

Damn you Michael Moore for getting KMart to stop carrying ammo!

Cops don't need gun ammunition when they can give you death by electrocution legally, i.e. tazers.

Wow! An ammo shortage? I had better get right on over to my local mall and pick up a few boxes of ammo and shells. No. Wait. The war in Iraq might go on for quite a while. That means that the shortage might continue or, heaven forbid, it might actually get worse. Just for a good sense of security, I had better make that a few cases of ammo. For good measure, I had best get some reloading equipment. You know, shells, powder, a reloader. I just realized, if I'm the only one on my block to have plenty of ammo in this time of shortage, I'll be a target. I better stock up and pick up a few more guns and, of course MORE ammo. But then, I'll only be a bigger target......I had better get even MORE GUNS, MORE AMMO and I had better fortify my windows and doors. But then, everyone will know that I have all of this precious ammo. That can only mean that I have to get even MORE GUNS, MORE AMMO, MORE FORTIFICATIONS. Oh my god.... don't feel safe anymore.I

I don't know if it's a purposeful constriction of the ammo supply but I do know that the WHO as in who gets to manufacture ammo is very controlled. Only some people are allowed to deal ammo in America. Even if you handload ammo yourself, you can't sell it.

I also know that there was at least one ArmsCorp employee (major ammo manufacturers) who was gunned down in his truck in the Phillippines last year. I don't know if the authorities determined that the shooters knew their targets were ArmsCorp employees, but ArmsCorp employs lots of filipinos to make bullets at prevailing labor rates so I'm sure the shooters did know. I have often wondered why there isn't more ammo being manufactured in the US. I also know that other shooting items like scopes from Trijicon are often out of stock and very hard to get.

My advice to concerned Americans: Get your own handloader and learn how to use it. Have a friend buy one of a different caliber and you can trade off so you have a variety of calibers. Once you get your loader working right, you can crank out ammo pretty quick. If anybody has questions about handloading, feel free to U2U me.



[edit on 4-5-2005 by smallpeeps]

Originally posted by Jamuhn
Cops don't need gun ammunition when they can give you death by electrocution legally, i.e. tazers.

Most cops don't have that kind of free time. I would take HOURS and probably a change of weapons for someone to do that. Anyways, people always complain about cops one way or another. Way to reinforce stereotypes and make some cop's job harder.

My rant aside, the issue is that as more and more departments modernize, they are taking more shotguns out of cruisers and replacing them with low-impulse rifles, such as the POS M16. In addition to 'ease of use', they also feature improved accuracy over buckshot, less collateral damage and better range. Of course, range is moot, since most law-enforcement shootings occur closer than 30 feet.

I'm a bit of the old-school type- you absolutely cannot beat the lethality of a shotgun at that range, it's hard to miss, and a hell of a lot less likely to jam.

DE

Originally posted by DeusEx

Originally posted by Jamuhn
Cops don't need gun ammunition when they can give you death by electrocution legally, i.e. tazers.

Most cops don't have that kind of free time. I would take HOURS and probably a change of weapons for someone to do that. Anyways, people always complain about cops one way or another. Way to reinforce stereotypes and make some cop's job harder.

It's happened quite often actually, especially considering it is a non-lethal force. But all in all, I calls em like I sees em.

Good advice smallpeeps.

I think shotguns are a far superior weapon for the job cops do. That's not really the issue though.

The issue is an ammo shortage, which is apparently only affecting the police. I haven't heard about a single private citizen complaining that they can't find the ammo they need.

I wonder if the PDs place huge orders, and have to wait for the factory to set aside a few cases a week for several months, whereas the dealers buy perhaps a case at a time and get their orders right away? In other words, are private customers getting priority because they buy from gun dealers instead of factory direct?

I wonder if this shortage might be used as an excuse for a round-about way of removing ammunition from stores for a while, perhaps in preparation of some sort of police action. There has been a marked increase in the number of arrests this year, stemming from Federal law enforcement. Barely a month ago, 10k people were arrested over the course of a week. I read more and more stories in the paper every day about stings, FBI, ATF, DEA, and ICE.

Imagine this story gets everywhere, cops can't get their bullets. Then, a story about how private customers have plenty of ammunition, and how dealers are getting priority. Then, some congressman or another puts forward a bill giving priority to PDs and setting private dealers on the back burner. This would effectively kill the market for ammunition, if the military needs as much as I think they do, and the cops buy as much as they'll want to.

Any thoughts?

It has all been smuggled into Mexico by rogue U.S. Border Patrol agents!

Originally posted by Roadscholar
It has all been smuggled into Mexico by rogue U.S. Border Patrol agents!

LOL!! Good one!

That wittiness is deserving of a WATS vote.

Thanks Jamuhn =)

I've seen you up on the ATSNN....good work, man!

Originally posted by Jamuhn
It's happened quite often actually, especially considering it is a non-lethal force. But all in all, I calls em like I sees em.

No such thing as 'non-lethal'. The term you're looking for is less than lethal. AS far as I know, a normal, healthy person has never died off a tazer- the felons in question are either ridiculously messed up on chem, or had heart conditions.

Also, as far as the ammunition issue goes, perhaps it stems from the fact that law enforcement often uses bullets specifically made for them, like Winchester Black Talons, or whatever the Talon brand is nowadays. It is not made in quantities, nor available on the open market. I know that a .223 is quite a powerful cartridge and would likely overpenetrate at typical operating distance. Perhaps the SWAT team would prefer NOT to kill civilians by throwing around conventional FMJ ammunition?

DE