Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire U.S. Postal Service Announces Giant Ammo Purchase

U.S. Postal Service Announces Giant Ammo Purchase

February 5, 2014
The U.S. Postal Service is currently seeking companies that can provide �assorted small arms ammunition� in the near future.
The U.S. Postal Service joins the long list of non-military federal agencies purchasing large amounts of ammunition.
The U.S. Postal Service joins the long list of non-military federal agencies purchasing large amounts of ammunition.
On Jan. 31, the USPS Supplies and Services Purchasing Office posted a notice on the Federal Business Opportunities website asking contractors to register with USPS as potential ammunition suppliers for a variety of cartridges.
�The United States Postal Service intends to solicit proposals for assorted small arms ammunition,� the notice reads, which also mentioned a deadline of Feb. 10.
The Post Office published the notice just two days after Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) announced his proposal to remove a federal gun ban that prevents lawful concealed carry holders from carrying handguns inside post offices across the country.
Ironically the Postal Service isn�t the first non-law enforcement agency seeking firearms and ammunition.
Since 2001, the U.S. Dept. of Education has been building a massive arsenal through purchases orchestrated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
The Education Dept. has spent over $80,000 so far on Glock pistols and over $17,000 on Remington shotguns.
Back in July, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also purchased 72,000 rounds of .40 Smith & Wesson, following a 2012 purchase for 46,000 rounds of .40 S&W jacketed hollow point by the National Weather Service.
NOAA spokesperson Scott Smullen responded to concerns over the weather service purchase by stating that it was meant for the NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement for its bi-annual �target qualifications and training.�
That seems excessive considering that JHP ammunition is typically several times more expensive than practice rounds, which can usually be found in equivalent power loadings and thus offer similar recoil characteristics as duty rounds.
Including mass purchases by the Dept. of Homeland Security, non-military federal agencies combined have purchased an estimated amount of over two billion rounds of ammunition in the past two years.
Additionally, the U.S. Army bought almost 600,000 Soviet AK-47 magazines last fall, enough to hold nearly 18,000,000 rounds of 7.62x39mm ammo which is not standard-issue for either the U.S. military or even NATO.
It would take a Lockheed Martin C-5 Galaxy, one of the largest cargo aircraft in the world, two trips to haul that many magazines.
A month prior, the army purchased nearly 3,000,000 rounds of 7.62x39mm ammo, a huge amount but still only 1/6th of what the magazines purchased can hold in total.
The Feds have also spent millions on riot control measures in addition to the ammo acquisitions.
Earlier this month, Homeland Security spent over $58 million on hiring security details for just two Social Security offices in Maryland.
DHS also spent $80 million on armed guards to protect government buildings in New York and sought even more guards for federal facilities in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
While the government gears up for civil unrest and stockpiles ammo without limit, private gun owners on the other hand are finding ammunition shelves empty at gun stores across America, including shortages of once-common cartridges such as .22 Long Rifle.
UPDATE: Since the publication of this article, the USPS has amended its pre-solicitation, claiming that the ammunition is a "standard purchase" for the Postal Police. This does not explain, however, why the Postal Police was not listed in the original notice if this is standard. As the federal government grows larger, more and more federal agencies such as the Dept. of Education and NOAA are forming and arming their own "law enforcement divisions" with hundreds of thousands spent on full-blown arsenals. Even the EPA has its own SWAT teams conducting raids on peaceful Americans. Expect to see more large-scale firearm and ammunition purchases by these bureaucracies as they become even more militarized.

Crap article.

The Postal Inspectors and USPS Uniformed Police are one of the oldest Federal Law Enforcment Agencies in the nation. NOAA has had an sworn component for a long time, and is actually a uniformed service. The Dept of Education has investigators, and has for a long time. Tinfoil at its finest.

Yawwwwnnnnn......

Good for the firearms and ammunition companies in the U.S.

Tom

I guess I missed it, where is the 'giant' amount listed? I think they have to solicit using FBO if they expect to pay over $25,000 for any item.

I love to see the feds becoming more heavily armed and more invested in ammo. Makes me feel warm and fuzzy, and all safe and sound.
I fully appreciate why the freaking Post Office needs Uniformed officers, and want more of this.

...........not

I know, and idiots right here think it's all good.

Nope, I don't think folks here think its "good"

Just in all the haze one does have to admit that these agencies have had security forces for a LONG time, the ammo purchases are nothing new at all. And if they are buying more than normal, they are just like you and I, preparing to never be caught pants down.

I'd say if there was a real issue, you'd NEVER know it, because all the fed agencies would get together, have a manufacturing plant built that NONE of us would ever know of, and start producing their own...

But I do think less .gov is better than more.

Being around some other inspectors in other situations, I can fully appreciate WHY they would want to be armed for their protection and if I ever take my final fire investegators license, I"ll sure be armed also, getting into serious murder investigations, you never konw when someone will do something to prevent you for searching for evidence, since their life will or could then be on the line.

Kind of a catch 22 in a way. We want to be protected, but we also fear agencies when they want protection.

One just has to make sure there is oversight in gov agencies and that they are held accountable for stupid stunts, just like CHL holders (or not) do stupid stunts at times...

An example is a retired cop shooting a guy for texting his daughters baby sitter in a movie....

No offense Jeff, but I don't need some [bleep] postal worker carrying a gun to protect me.

I think it's to protect the bleeping postal worker, more than to protect me.
After all, they ARE government employees, and entitled to more protection than the common Citizens.

I have no love for the Feds, or the people who work for them, but................... if I insist on MY 2nd amendment right to armed self defense, I have to include ALL citizens or risk being a hypocrite.

A postal worker should be allowed a CHL as long as he obtains it the same way any other citizen of his state is licensed. And just like them, he should buy his own firearm and ammo.

Rost, I think he is referring to lillysdad and tgriff

They aren't "postal workers carrying guns." They are Postal Inspectors, and their uniformed support staff. They investigate such crimes as drug trafficking, mail and wire fraud, theft of mail, terrorism, money laundering, etc...of all the superfluous sworn federal agencies, the Postal Inspectors are certainly not one of them.

I would certainly call their uniformed support staff 'surperflous'.

From what I gather, the uniformed staff is quite minimal, and is tasked with physical site security of USPS offices and infrastructure. I believe there is a secondary function of security for certain USPS functions, such as secure government shipments, etc. I believe there are less than 500 total uniformed officers nationwide.

This, and if they were really trying to protect us, they would secure the border. miles

There aren't inspectors in most facilities. Postal workers are entitled to less protection than the average citizen because they are not allowed to legally have firearms on the property thanks to the news media. Read the dept. of labor's stats on cause by death and homicide is at the top. One judge has ruled in one area of the country postal workers and leave their firearms in their vehicles on USPS property but until it's settled nation wide it's not accepted nation wide. Postal Inspectors never have been and never will be there for the postal workers. Some large facilities do have armed guards but that is to protect the mail, not people.

Gives new meaning to the term going postal. We knew it didn't we. They'll send them out to kill conservatives in their homes instead of delivering mail.

This is not the story you are looking for...

Move along

Snake

Agree. They've always been purchasing it. The difference is with the internet and electronic world, you just hear about it or read about it. In the past you wouldn't have.

No it's the implementation of a military type force disguised as LE is the problem! The feds have the FBI if they need to investigate a serious crime that requires "special" resources. They have the jurisdiction and can be found in any state!

Typical redundancy and waste that the government does by adding a police force to every federal agency it creates then adds the "extras" and procures unnecessary equipment at the taxpayers expense!

The feds do not need half the crap they have and the way they abuse most things including the U.S. Constitution they are the last that need protecting!

A post office doesn't need uniform presence, they already have postal inspectors (1811 series) along with many of the other agencies, it's typical FAT that needs to be trimmed.

The feds were never supposed to be in the Law Enforcement business to begin with. The inception of the FBI began they were never armed, now look at them?