Federal Law Enforcement Agencies Buy Ammunition

For weeks now, I have been bombarded with emails, post in chat groups, Facebook post, and stories in blogs that report that various government agencies were purchasing massive amounts of ammunition.  In a meeting of Liberty on the Rocks the other night people were talking about this development. This massive government purchase of ammo has resulted in speculation that the Obama administration is planning a coup shortly before the November election or immediately afterward should he lose the election.

I have spend hours on line trying to verify the facts of this story.  The Internet is a very big echo chamber and there are thousands and thousands of Internet posting on this story.  However, most postings link to other postings, none of which contain original research or are authoritative.  The best I can determine is that this story originated with Alex Jones.

Alex Jones is a radio talk show host out of Austin Texas whose program is syndicated to 60 stations. We do not have Alex Jones in the Nashville market and I have never heard his show, but I have read his blog Infowars and his blog Prison Planet. He specializes in conspiracy theories and incendiary commentary.  He is a 9-11 "truther" and advocates of all kinds of weird theories. When I found Alex Jones was a major source, it not the original source for this story, I was skeptical.

An exhaustive Internet search could not find this story being covered by any responsible conservative commentators nor could I find any reports of this in the mainstream press. If I can't find something reported by a reputable source, I am going to remain skeptical.  Nevertheless, such massive purchases of hollow point ammo, did seem unreasonable. Maybe, just maybe, their was reason to be concerned.

Today, I found a report in the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action that provides some answers. The Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the lobbying arm of the NRA. On August 17th they had a article  titled Federal Law Enforcement Agencies Buy Ammunition. Below are some excerpts:

You may recently have seen some in the Internet rumor mill feverishly repeating the obvious truth above, in an effort to stir up fear about recent acquisitions of ammunition by the Department of Homeland Security and a number of smaller agencies. The mildest writers have questioned why seemingly mundane agencies would need ammunition at all; more incendiary authors suggest that these government agencies are preparing for a war with the American people.

Much of the concern stems from a lack of understanding of the law enforcement functions carried about by officers in small federal agencies. These agents have the power to make arrests and execute warrants, just like their better-known counterparts at agencies like the FBI.

They go on to report that the amount of ammo purchased by the various agencies was not excessive and they do the math. Much has been made of the fact that agencies which one does not think of as needing weapons and ammo, such as the Social Security Administration, have purchased ammo.  As a matter of fact, the SSA does have armed agents who investigate Social Security fraud and issue warrants and make arrest.

I am not gathering my basic toiletries and change of clothes for the move to the concentration camp. I am not looking out my window for the black helicopters. I do think Obama is a danger to the survival of our country as we have known it, but I am not expecting a military coup anytime soon. 

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