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Homeland Security Soliciting Bids for Thousands of Rounds of Ammunition But Former SEAL Explains Why It’s Completely Normal

Feb. 7, 2013 11:59am Liz Klimas

Editor’s note: The 26.1 million rounds of ammo as originally reported was a miscalculation. We’ve updated this story to reflect the correct numbers and to explain the miscalculation.

On a semi-private website is a solicitation by the Department of Homeland Security for a total of 240,000 rounds of ammunition, which it is seeking to purchase from a small business. Although this might seem like a lot, sources tell us it is not out of the ordinary.

Going through the website FedBid, DHS’ Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Arteia, New Mexico, is putting out a call for the training ammunition through competitive bids, which have to be at least $10, according to the post. Here’s a breakdown of what it wants:

DHS Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Seeking to Purchase 26.1 Million Rounds of Ammunition

(Image: FedBid screenshot)

The FLETC in New Mexico includes programs for Border Patrol, TSA and Indian Affairs. Specialized programs like Firearms Instructor Training Program and Defensive Tactics Instructor Training Program are also conducted at the Artesia facility.

Mike Piccione for The Daily Caller pointed out that the 26.1 million rounds that was being reported was a miscalculation due to misinterpreting that the delivery was to be priced per 1,000 rounds. Here are Piccione’s calculations:

1. .40 cal. 100 quantities of a 1,000 round unit = 100,000 rounds

2. 9mm 115 grain, 100 quantities of a 1,000 round unit = 100,000 rounds

3. 9mm 124 grain ball, 40 quantities of a 1,000 round unit = 40,000 rounds

Total = 240,000 rounds

The website FedBid is an online marketplace where federal, state and local governments, as well as businesses, can buy items or services. According to a profile about FedBiz owner Ali Saadat in the Washington Business Journal, the website conducted $1.4 billion worth of federal transactions in 2012.

Saadat said the concept for FedBid is changing how people in the industry would traditionally seek out and respond to business, which often includes sending requests for proposals or requests for quotes.

“That time is gone. It all happens on the Internet and in a transparent way,” Saadat told the Washington Business Journal.

Going through FedBid’s home page, to try and search for requests for goods or services, it appears that one has to sign up to become a member as a buyer or seller in order to view the marketplace pages.

As for the ammunition being solicited by DHS with bids ending Feb. 11, here are a few examples to put the amount into perspective:

In 2012, defense contractor AKT was awarded a five-year contract to provide 450 million rounds (max) to DHS.
The government sought 175 million rounds of .223 caliber rifle ammo in 2012 as well.
Maj. Gen. Buford C. Blount III said in 2004 testimony to the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee of the Committee on Arms Services that soldiers used 72 million rounds in Iraq in 2003 and that their expenditure at the time was 5.5 million rounds per month.

At the time of ATK’s contract award for 450 million rounds last spring, TheBlaze’s Tiffany Gabbay wrote that while this might seem like a lot of ammo, it wasn’t unusual. Gabbay wrote gun experts saying that it was part of a practice by such agencies to spend any budget surplus on useful items before the end of the fiscal year. That could be what is going on with this latest request for ammo but we don’t know for sure.

Former Navy SEAL Brandon Webb, who runs the website SOFREP (the Special Operations Forces Report) told us in an email that everything on the list looks “perfectly normal” to him.

“It’s a training center for DHS so there going to need a lot, I mean a LOT, of ammo,” Webb wrote in an email. “Figure one day a guy will shoot through 500-1000 rounds a piece and it starts to add up.”

Featured image via Shutterstock.com.

(H/T: Drudge Report, InfoWars)

In CONTROL, Glenn Beck presents a passionate, fact-based case for guns that reveals why gun control isn’t really about controlling guns at all; it’s about controlling us. Find out more HERE.

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Comments (268)

spfoam1
Posted on February 7, 2013 at 1:30pm
This is called intimidation. They seem to be purhasing this ammo so as to attract attention, not avoid attention. They are saying “we can buy more ammo than you can”. They are warning us not to mess with the federal government, or else.

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- RDavis49
  Posted on February 7, 2013 at 1:41pm
  Excellent point…..
  
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- katzkiner
  Posted on February 7, 2013 at 4:22pm
  Every hear the term “battlefield pick up”? Study unconventional warfare. The manual will cost < $10. Glad they have all this ammo, should be plentiful. Probably will fall off the back of trucks.
  
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RDavis49
Posted on February 7, 2013 at 1:22pm
“Part of a practice by such agencies to spend any budget surplus”………. SURPLUS (means too many taxes collected) It’s a fact that this practice is true. That’s just a fancy way of saying, BLOW the excess money so budgets don’t get cut next year. There are millions and millions of excess dollars at fiscal year’s end in many state and federal government agencies, mostly due to low level government managers and employees trying to respectfully conserve taxpayer funds during the year. But, at years end, Upper Management directs the budget offices to send request to units asking for what they call “their unfunded purchase requirements, UFR’s”. While some of these “requirements” are legit, many are in the form of new desk, office chairs, computers, renovations…. etc. to replace serviceable equipment (discarded) in an effort to burn off excess dollars to avoid budget cuts by that amount of any excess not spent, or turned back. IMO, it’s forced (encouraged) wasteful spending, instead of responsible managed spending by upper management. IMO, if this practice alone was halted, millions and millions in taxpayer dollars would be saved in state and federal governments annually to give every American taxpayer a handsome refund and lower our overall tax bill. The state and federal governments have spending habits that are out of control and Americans, especially liberals, just watch it happen before their very eyes and say nothing.

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Al J Zira
Posted on February 7, 2013 at 1:18pm
Damn!!!! That’s 2,610,000 magazines of bullets. It would take a while to burn through that many mags. Oh, I forgot. Only us peon citizens are limited to 10 round mags, the government can have what ever they deem necessary.

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- RDavis49
  Posted on February 7, 2013 at 1:39pm
  Anyone who thinks this massive ammo purchase by the Department of Homeland Security (same as Hitler’s SS killer goons) and the fact that gun control is being so heavily sought after by the Feds right now are not connected, well you’re simply being overly trusting and very, very blind. DHS is preparing for 1776 in 2013 and to me that is about as crystal clear a mountain lake. They fully expect a total rebellion and uprising against gun control and confiscation by the American people over their 2nd amendment rights being violated. Be stupid and trusting of this administration and the other political elites if you wish, but for myself, I’ll remain on the cautious side. YOU, the individual, the citizen are NOT THEIR FRIENDS or their main concern. Public safety….. That’s BS.
  
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toledofan
Posted on February 7, 2013 at 1:17pm
Nothing out of the ordinary, in ordinary times, but, the more ammo the government gets the less ammo the citizens get. Also, we’re not expending 72 million rounds in Iraq or Afghanistan today so, again the ordinary times just aren’t that ordinary and as supply and demand goes, I just wonder how much the demand will cause the prices to go up.

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BurntHills
Posted on February 7, 2013 at 1:16pm
the new manual states ‘TAKE NO PRISONERS, SHOOT TO KILL’ in civil unrest on American soil.

and some 25+% of the US Military admits it votes ‘obama’. making sense of the recent survey the obama US MARINE ‘CORPSE’ filled out — it had 26.34% USMC answering YES they WILL fire on (KILL) Americans on America soil (during gun confiscation).

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- chris72sax
  Posted on February 7, 2013 at 1:39pm
  I hope their families are safe while they are violating our liberties.
  
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Zundfolge
Posted on February 7, 2013 at 1:16pm
Ok, lets set aside the fear that DHS is preparing for “something” for a moment and assume for the sake of discussion that this is just “normal practice ammo”.

WHY are they practicing with high dollar jacketed hollow point ammo? When I practice I buy significantly less expensive Full Metal Jacketed practice ammo, not premium priced hollow points.

So even if they’re not planning a war against the American people they’re seriously wasting a TON of money.

JHPs cost anywhere from two to three times the cost of FMJ.

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- right-wing-waco
  Posted on February 7, 2013 at 3:08pm
  Zund..,
  “So even if they’re not planning a war against the American people they’re seriously wasting a TON of money.”
  
  But they are spending YOUR money so they don’t care.
  
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omgfolks
Posted on February 7, 2013 at 1:13pm
This is scary, our goverment buying bullets during a time when they are trying to take guns away from citizens. Be aware Americans tyranny is right around the corner…

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BurntHills
Posted on February 7, 2013 at 1:12pm
funny that Gen. Curry (Ret.) in his Daily Caller article thought it was extremely concerning and abnormal for 1.625 billion rounds to be purchased by obama in 2012.

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- RDavis49
  Posted on February 7, 2013 at 1:45pm
  And, arming America’s enemy’s with F-16 fighter jets and our most technologically advanced tanks? The puzzle is coming together people, hope we’re not to late mess it up for Obama.
  
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RaydocX
Posted on February 7, 2013 at 1:10pm
i agree with many of the prior posts… ammunition is scarce. and expensive.
i’ve had 5.56 on order for 3 months.
strange they’re ordering the .223 ammo when milspec weapons would be the 5.56 and accuracy is slightly impacted by the .223 round… maybe they aren’t worried about collateral civilians?
we’ll learn after O’s tenure that MILLIONS of these rounds are sitting in a storage building, unused, to be destroyed for being out of dates and at additional cost for environmental damage by the government. why do i say that? i see no way DHS could burn through that much ammo if they were mandating daily training for all employees… so they’re using their ‘budget’ (remember, that budget that no one is forcing the Administration or Senate to provide) to corner the market on ammunition, knowing that the EPA won’t likely let new ammunition companies start up for environmental concerns.

take away the ammo and our AR platforms are expensive clubs.
except they’ll never get it all… Prohibition, the Drug war, prostitution, and the confiscation of gold are just easy examples demonstrating ‘the Man’ cannot eradicate what is deemed socially unacceptable.

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zetuff
Posted on February 7, 2013 at 1:04pm
notice glenn beck down plays all this kind of news…he dont want you to investigate or question 911 sandyhook, aroura shootings even the sniper being killed,, beck has all the answers . beck says dont fight just go along with what ever the government tells you….if they come for your guns he says just let them arrest you .. yea rite when you are setting in a fema camp remember beck says dont worrie stay calm . beck is a paid peacekeeper..texas wake up!! he was sent there to brain wash you…..

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AboveMyPayGrade
Posted on February 7, 2013 at 1:01pm
B-NEIL posted in part at 12:19pm: “I’m trying to estimate how many BROWN shirts there going to order. I know it sound stupid yet the Pres said he wanted his own Army. Home Land security and the TSA makes up a good start.”

I’ve seen numerous posters suggest that Obama will use personnel from federal agencies like DHS, TSA, IRS, EPA, SS, DoE, and so on rather than our military for such dirtywork because their first loyalty is to their paychecks and not to the Constitution.

And while it’s true that several government agencies DO have internal armed forces, they are a VERY TINY percentage of these agencies’ workforces. The VAST majority of federal employees are mere PAPER PUSHERS, the vast majority of whom soil themselves at even the THOUGHT of a gun, much less actually being called upon to USE it in a hostile way against ARMED people.

Besides, a substantial portion of the workforce of any federal agency is FEMALE – not exactly a promising group to draw from for WARRIORS.

Also, let’s face it, in any neighborhood, the people KNOW who works for federal agencies. If these agencies violently turn on the American people, the homes and families of their employees, at least in red states, are going to quickly become TARGETS, and many federal employees in such states will see their homes burned and their families killed or taken hostage by their outraged and ARMED neighbors. Wonder how willing they’ll be to shoot THEN if it will mean the deaths of their loved ones.

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ferggie
Posted on February 7, 2013 at 12:59pm
The 1911 pistol just celebrated its 100yr anniversary. This is a semi-automatic pistol and has been around longer than any of the idiots in DC that are trying to make it out to be this new evil weapon that is responsible for murders over the last 20 years and must be banned. A gun is no more dangerous than a pencil. It only becomes a murder weapon when used by a sick individual to take someone’s life.
A gun, hammer, bat, knife, fist, etc. are all inanimate objects and are incapable of killing anyone on their own. Attention directed at these object as a way to reduce the number of murders and/or suicides is a foolish endeavor. Some will argue otherwise but only those that refuse to look at the statistical facts.
In the 70’s we stopped locking up the mentally ill but chose to give them some pills and allow them the ability to continue to interact with the rest of society. We have an increase in assaults and mass murders and as a society we push the false belief that it is all the result of a piece of machinery. That is correct; a gun is nothing more than a mechanical apparatus. It doesn’t have a heart, brain or limbs to carry out an evil act. I only hope the rational thinkers basing decision on facts outnumber the ignorant that only live on emotion to truly address this problem and provide resolutions that will actually help in the end.

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right-wing-waco
Posted on February 7, 2013 at 12:59pm
Stay ready with magazines full and maybe even bury what you don’t need right now. I am sure glad I bought ammo last year. Ammo will probably be the future currency too.

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publicas
Posted on February 7, 2013 at 12:57pm
The Department of Homeland Security is set to purchase a further 21.6 million rounds of ammunition to add to the 1.6 billion bullets it has already obtained over the course of the last 10 months…

To put that in perspective, during the height of active battle operations in Iraq, US soldiers used 5.5 million rounds of ammunition a month. Extrapolating the figures, the DHS has purchased enough bullets over the last 10 months to wage a full scale war for almost 30 years…

While Americans are being browbeaten with rhetoric about the necessity to give up semi-automatic firearms in the name of preventing school shootings, the federal government is arming itself to the teeth with both ammunition and guns. Last September, the DHS purchased no less than 7,000 fully automatic assault rifles, labeling them “Personal Defense Weapons.”

http://www.infowars.com/dhs-purchases-21-6-million-more-rounds-of-ammunition/

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OldNGrumpy
Posted on February 7, 2013 at 12:53pm
The purpose of the rfp is to suck up as much ammo as possible. It reduces the supply available to the general population and at the same time increases the price for the general population. Don’t be surprised later when the government starts quietly selling off surplus ammo to the highest bidder, whether domestic or not.

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EQUALIZER
Posted on February 7, 2013 at 12:50pm
A frend whose son is in the military,mid-grade, was told by higher ups that the next major war will be on our southern border, I thought against who? Now it is beginning to take shape i’m afraid.

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- RDavis49
  Posted on February 7, 2013 at 2:10pm
  Be afraid…… it’s healthy, cautious and keeps you on the defensive for the offensive.
  
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Xiccarph
Posted on February 7, 2013 at 12:49pm
“…was part of a practice by such agencies to spend any budget surplus on useful items before the end of the fiscal year.”

Probably the most telling phrase in the whole article. If DHS, or IRS, or whatever Depts, are buying amounts of ammo that would make any military in the world envious, then I certainly “wonder” what the *useful purpose* is!

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jackact
Posted on February 7, 2013 at 12:46pm
Were these the ‘hollow-points’ that were previously requisitioned by the Obama regime excusively reserved for use against………The Tea Party?

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RightUnite
Posted on February 7, 2013 at 12:43pm
Ammunition manufacturers need to say no to these bids.

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EQUALIZER
Posted on February 7, 2013 at 12:39pm
Is it legal? Who is the Evian Group the contract was given to, who was formed 5 days before the contract was given? Who is The Evian group?

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SamIamTwo
Posted on February 7, 2013 at 12:36pm
Cheaper to buy in bulk and then sell it at a much higher price…would help out the deficit. LOL

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ConcernedCitizenSubject
Posted on February 7, 2013 at 12:36pm
Only the 9mm ball ammo is training ammo. The others listed are jacketed hollow points which are made to be put to use on stopping targets. This is truly concerning.

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WillG
Posted on February 7, 2013 at 12:36pm
You can smell it coming.

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AboveMyPayGrade
Posted on February 7, 2013 at 12:35pm
By the way, SKIPPY6, the correct term is MARTIAL, not MARSHAL or MARSHALL, law.

And I’ll counter YOUR question with THIS one: Obama can DECLARE a national state of martial law, but SOMEONE still has to IMPOSE and ENFORCE it. WHO do you believe Obama will be able to get to DO it?

I may be optimistically naive in believing this (but if I am, I’m in a LOT of company, which includes the vast majority of those I’ve seen all over the Internet who have posted on this topic in the last couple of years and who have identified themselves as actually having served in these bodies), but I believe that the VAST majority of those in our military/National Guard/civilian law-enforcement will NOT obey orders from Obama to trash their oaths to the Constitution and turn their weaponry upon the American citizenry.

Of course, many will undoubtedly answer that Obama will turn to U.N. “peacekeepers” and/or NATO troops to do to the American citizenry what he discovers to his chagrin that our own military WON’T.

But for any foreign forces ordered here by Obama to commit atrocities upon the American citizenry will, I believe, be met by a response that for such forces will make America “WOLVERINES!” on STEROIDS (and this is even assuming that any call by Obama for foreign occupiers does not result in our military leadership immediately deposing him, as I believe would be very likely). Once they start taking casualties in numbers, I think they quickly cut and run from this country.

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FANGS
Posted on February 7, 2013 at 12:32pm
Obarry will bring in United Nations troops to disarm america. American will be forced to ambust and terminate all foreign forces and Marshal law checkpoints. People, You’d better start grouping up with your neighbors . Democrats and terrorists are one in the same.

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- AboveMyPayGrade
  Posted on February 7, 2013 at 12:43pm
  FANGS, take a look at how U.N. forces perform when they’re faced with a populace that’s ARMED and VERY HOSTILE to their presence: southern Lebanon, where they’ve been placed amidst a VERY hostile Hezbollah force, is a good example here.
  
  U.N. forces have shown their bravery, all right – when it comes to raping Third World women. But in places where they’re among an ARMED population who are perfectly willing to shoot back at them, as in southern Lebanon, they cower in their hideouts. In fact, in Hezbollah’s recent war with Israel of a few years ago, Hezbollah used the U.N. forces in southern Lebanon as human shields, and the U.N. forces cravenly did nothing to stop them from doing so.
  
  Why should I believe that U.N. forces in America, who are very likely to be overwhelmingly drawn from the Third World, will show any more martial spirit?
  
  In fact, if the U.N. sent forces here from the Third World, the U.N. might well find it will have a very serious problem on its hands resulting from mass DEFECTIONS and DESERTIONS of those forces, who are likely to decide that rather than DIE in America, it would be better for them to SEEK ASYLUM here.
  
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