Why? Brain dead bureaucrats. There is a policy that if you don't expend your budget, all of it, you get less next year. Some items are questioned, others are not. When I still sold copiers, I saw state agencies order our most expensive paper, and get crates of it. Enough to last years. Why? No one questions paper, and apparently no one questions bullets either. It's a stupid system, and one of the biggest reasons why there is such a giant deficit. I guess if you were a tinfoil hat Alex Jones listener you would assume DHS plans to take over America and force us all into FEMA run death camps. If you really wanted to...

I heard the US was thinking about getting Storm Troopers. All the ammo could be for them to make sure they hit something.

Why do so many Americans suffer from extreme paranoia? Obama is planning for the revolution? Why should there be a revolution? Why do you feel better about yourselves pretending to be resistance fighters in a non existent war against a non tyrannical and sane government? Why do you think that your semi auto rifles and shotguns will defeat the US military? Why would Obama even order the military to come massacre you all? What the -blam!- is wrong with you?

Zombies.

Maybe they have shit aim?

Why does Homeland Security exist? They seem like lazy and useless pieces of crap when it comes to stopping nonexistent terrorists. Just a waste of federal money to keep a cowardly America in check.

[quote]Fact: Lake City ammo plant’s annual production is 1.6 BILLION, total, which is 6% of the Pentagon’s annual requirement. If that is the Pentagon’s annual requirement, then they were shooting a hell of a lot more ammo than 5,000,000 per month in Iraq. THESE figures were published in various arms trade magazines three to six years ago. Also, Aviation Week And Space Technology. By GAO’s own numbers, they fired 250,000 rounds per kill in Iraq. And killed A LOT. http://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/the-u-s-has-fired-250-000-bullets-for-every-insurgent-killed-in-iraq-afghanistan.180858/ http://jonathanturley.org/2011/01/10/gao-u-s-has-fired-250000-rounds-for-every-insurgent-killed/ So, at this enlightening figure, DHS doesn’t have a whole lot of ammo, certainly not enough to control Detroit. Good article….The Great Ammunition Myth. http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/342161/great-ammunition-myth-charles-c-w-cooke In a weekend class, we shoot about 8,000 rounds. Sounds like a lot, eh? Well, 15 students, but it’s only 533 rounds per student. Every round is a controlled training experience. No blasting wildly. Some serious SWAT schools will have students firing 10,000 rounds in four days. They will burn out a barrel in four days in their M4 5.56 carbine. So, while some speculate that the USG is buying up all the ammo, it’s bogus. Citizens will buy about 16 to 18 BILLION ROUNDS this year.[/quote] From the comments in the article. Also consider: They said they have an open order for 1.6 billion bullets. No where does the article state that they are stockpiling these bullets. Just that they have an open order. It sounds like to me that the government (knowing that they use a lot of bullets given how it has to train recruits in how to shoot and the fact that we are engaged in a war) when asked how much they wanted, put up a huge request and is buying what the supplier can produce to meet their day to day demands. Side note: It truly is entertaining to read the comments. They all boil down to this: SOCIALIST COMMIE MUSLIM RADICAL KING BARACK OSAMA OBAMA THE FIRST IS GOING TO DECLARE WAR ON US TRUE RED BLOODED AMERICANS! AND KILL US IN THE STREET!

Hollowpoints aren't allowed in combat. They are allowed for domestic use, such as by federal agencies and law enforcement. The military, law enforcement, and federal agencies all use much more ammo in training than they do on duty. APC's are fairly common for SWAT teams that have to deal with everything from raids on organized crime rings to counter-terror operations. I fail to see how this is shocking, or why people are freaking out about it.

Buy it because when budgets are cut... they won't have to worry about it in the future. I can't believe the idiots in here. APCs are not all that uncommon for law enforcement use, especially in larger cities SWATs. I mean, I guess we should wait for shit to hit the fan before we do something about it right? Be reactive not proactive, eh? Edit: Also, at the height or "The Iraq War" we did not use anywhere near the amount of ammunition that would be used in a conventional war.

Normally when down sizing occurs after a war the government will stock up on ammo before their budget gets cut. It allows them to train and complete their operations with out having to worry about money problems. Our government has bought ammo like this after Desert Storm and several other wars throughout history.

It's probably just a contingency. The US government has a backup plan for nearly every type of scenario. We even have one for a zombie apocalypse, so they're probably just making sure they have enough ammo if somehow terrorists or something were able to send us into total war.