The Ammo Controversy

Several facets of the government have recently purchased a variety of ammunition in large quantities. In total, more than 1.2 billion rounds of ammunition was ordered between April and August of 2012. This ammunition primarily consisted of .223 ammunition, which is used in military style weapons such as AR-15s or M16s. The largest purchase of ammunition was placed by the Department of Homeland Security. However, the amounts of ammunition were redacted in a later version of the purchase order. Additional purchases were made by the Social Security Administration and the National Weather Service.

 

To keep these amounts of ammunition in perspective, US military forces used a total of 1.8 billion rounds of total ammunition per year in 2010. That was an estimated 250,000 of rounds for every insurgent killed. In addition to the volume of the ammunition ordered, the fact that much of the ammo was hollow point caused people to be suspicious of the claims that it was for qualification purposes on paper targets.

The orders were originally reported through InfoWars.com and PrisonPlanet.com - two sites owned by Austin talk radio host Alex Jones. The articles voice concern that the ammo was ordered in preparation of a military or police crack down in the wake of an economic crisis. Later articles from other sources hinted that the ammo could have been ordered to be sent to Syria to aid the rebels there.

We are tracking the issue as a controversy for President Obama. We don't expect it to develop any futher unless some verification can be presented that shows it was sent to Turkey to eventually end up in Syria.