Thursday, April 25, 2013

AT LAST, SOME IN CONGRESS ASK: Why does the DHS need 1,000 more rounds of ammo per person than the U.S. Army?

Kudos to Representative Jason Chaffetz for calling out a Department of Homeland Security that appears to resemble President Obama's "Civilian National Security Force" more and more each day.

Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz said Thursday that the Department of Homeland Security is using roughly 1,000 rounds of ammunition more per person than the U.S. Army, as he and other lawmakers sharply questioned DHS officials on their "massive" bullet buys.

"It is entirely ... inexplicable why the Department of Homeland Security needs so much ammunition," Chaffetz, R-Utah, said at a hearing.

The hearing itself was unusual, as questions about the department's ammunition purchases until recently had bubbled largely under the radar -- on blogs and in the occasional news article. But as the Department of Homeland Security found itself publicly defending the purchases, lawmakers gradually showed more interest in the issue.

...Chaffetz, who chairs one of the House oversight subcommittees holding the hearing Thursday, revealed that the department currently has more than 260 million rounds in stock. He said the department bought more than 103 million rounds in 2012 and used 116 million that same year -- among roughly 70,000 agents.

Comparing that with the small-arms purchases procured by the U.S. Army, he said the DHS is churning through between 1,300 and 1,600 rounds per officer, while the U.S. Army goes through roughly 350 rounds per soldier... He noted that is "roughly 1,000 rounds more per person."

Drones over America. Gunships over Miami. Citizens who believe in the U.S. Constitution labeled as "extreme right wing terrorists."

Hair standing up on the back of your neck yet? If not, it should be.


4 comments:

  1. And the consequences?
    If none, Napolitano will be partying tonight, laughing the incident off.

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  2. Based on the Boston scenario I figure DHS needs 2000rounds per pressure cooker that exists in the country.

    So many spent rounds, so few dead terrorist.

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  3. Anonymous1:21 AM

    DHS was criticized for procuring targets that depicted male, female and older Americans for live fire realism. I'd like to know where I can get targets depicting DHS Agents so to spruce things up.

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  4. Bones9:58 AM

    With growing incompetence of Government agency's and workers, these stock piles of weapons and ammunition will become Ware houses for the evil doers. Thousands of fully automatic weapons could stolen from one big rig and let loose in the cities.

    ReplyDelete