US Postal Service Joins in Federal Ammo Purchases
Tuesday, 15 Apr 2014 08:08 AM
By Cheryl K. Chumley
Add the U.S. Postal Service to the list of federal agencies seeking to
purchase what some Second Amendment activists say are alarmingly large
quantities of ammunition.
Earlier this year, the USPS posted
a notice on its website, under the heading "Assorted Small Arms
Ammunition," that says: "The United States Postal Service intends to
solicit proposals for assorted small arms ammunition. If your organization
wishes to participate, you must pre-register. This message is only a
notification of our intent to solicit proposals."
Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the
Washington-based Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, said:
"We're seeing a highly unusual amount of ammunition being bought by the
federal agencies over a fairly short period of time. To be honest, I don't
understand why the federal government is buying so much at this time."
Jake McGuigan, director of state
affairs and government relations for the National Shooting Sports Foundation,
said widely reported federal ammunition purchases have sparked conspiracy-type
fears among gun owners, who worry that the federal government is trying to crack
down on Second Amendment rights via the back door by limiting the ammo
available to owners.
It's not just the USPS that is
stocking up on ammo.
A little more than a year ago, the
Social Security Administration put in a request for 174,000 rounds of ".357
Sig 125 grain bonded jacketed hollow-point" bullets.
Before that, it was the Department of Agriculture requesting
320,000 rounds. More recently, the Department of Homeland Security raised
eyebrows with its request for 450 million rounds — at about the same time the
FBI separately sought 100 million hollow-point rounds.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also requested
46,000 rounds.
Philip Van Cleave, president of
the Virginia Citizens Defense League, asked: why exactly does a weather service
need ammunition?
"NOAA — really? They have a need? One just doesn't know why they're
doing this," he said. "The problem is, all these agencies have their
own SWAT teams, their own police departments, which is crazy. In theory, it was
supposed to be the U.S.
marshals that was the armed branch for the federal government."
Armed federal employees are often
assigned to offices of investigative services, the offices of inspectors
general, or other equally bureaucratic agencies.
For instance, regular Internal
Revenue Service agents aren't equipped with on-the-job guns — but those
affiliated with the agency's Criminal Investigations Division are.
The same goes for workers with the
U.S. Postal Inspection Service, with the Department of Agriculture's Office of
Inspector General, and with the Department of Education's Office of Inspector
General.
The Energy Department, the
Department of Health and Human Services, the Commerce Department, and the U.S.
Agency for International Development are a few of the federal entities that
boast an armed division, tasked with investigating fraud and suspected criminal
activities. As such, the agents get to carry guns.
"Most of these agencies do
have their own police forces," said Jim Wallace, executive director of the
Massachusetts-based Gun Owners' Action League.
That, perhaps more than federal
ammunition purchases, is the larger issue, he suggested, and Van Cleave agreed.
"What's the need for that? Do
we really need this? That was something our Founding Fathers did not like and
we should all be concerned about," Van Cleave said, speaking of the
expansion of police forces throughout all levels of government.
The Department of Homeland
Security employs in its various law enforcement entities — from the Coast Guard
to the Secret Service to Customs and Border Protection — more than 200,000
workers, an estimated 135,000 of whom are authorized to carry weapons. When the
agency makes its ammo buys, it often does so over the course of several years.
"We realize that the House is
still investigating the ammo purchases by the administration, but from what
we've seen so far, most representatives don't seem alarmed," said Erich
Pratt, communications director for Gun Owners of America.
"For example, [Georgia
Republican] Rep. Lynn Westmoreland said that given all the agencies that the
Department of Homeland Security purchases for, "450 million rounds really
is not that large of an order," Pratt said.
McGuigan acknowledged that there
was a scarcity of ammo but attributed it more to a rise in purchases by
individuals.
The Obama administration's stated
desire to scale back gun rights drove more in the private sector to purchase
firearms — which in turn fueled ammunition sales, McGuigan said.
"Over the last few years,
there's been a tremendous increase in gun ownership, [with] many more
females," McGuigan said. "I think a lot of people need to be aware of
what's happening, and what the federal agencies are doing. I don't think,
though, they need to be overly concerned that there's not going to be any ammo
left."
But the notion of the Obama
administration's using backdoor means to scale back gun ownership — a move
that's hardly been kept secret — doesn't seem that outlandish to some.
"I don't believe in
conspiracy theories, but it doesn't make a whole lot of sense," Gottlieb
said. "The amount of ammunition they're buying up far exceeds their needs.
It far exceeds what they'll use — they'll never use it all."
U.S.
Postal Service
Margaret D. Noyes
is the art director & designer for the U.S.
Postal Service, married to Gregory
B. Craig, and was a member of the Citizens
Stamp Advisory Committee.
Note: Gregory B. Craig
is married to Margaret D. Noyes, a
trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace (think tank), was a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, and the White House
counsel for the Barack Obama
administration.
Jessica Tuchman Mathews is the
president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank),
a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), was an
honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg
conference participant (think tank).
Ed Griffin’s interview with
Norman Dodd in 1982
(The investigation into the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace uncovered the plans for population
control by involving the United
States in war)
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace (think tank), and the Brookings Institution (think
tank).
George Soros
was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is an honorary
trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a senior counsel for Akin,
Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, Antoinette
Cook Bush is his stepdaughter,
Valerie B. Jarrett’s
great uncle, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think
tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Daniel R. Glickman
was a senior adviser for Akin, Gump,
Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, and the secretary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
J. David Carlin
is a partner at Akin, Gump, Strauss,
Hauer & Feld, LLP, and was the assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Antoinette Cook
Bush is Vernon E. Jordan
Jr’s stepdaughter, and a partner at Skadden,
Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.
Valerie B. Jarrett
is Vernon E. Jordan Jr’s great niece, the senior
adviser for the Barack Obama
administration, and a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
Kathleen
Brown is a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, and was an
attorney at O'Melveny
& Myers LLP.
Cyrus F.
Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
William T.
Coleman Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a senior partner at O'Melveny & Myers LLP.
Arthur B.
Culvahouse Jr. is a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank),
and a partner at O'Melveny & Myers LLP.
Zoe
Baird is an honorary trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank), and was a partner at O'Melveny & Myers LLP.
Thomas E. Donilon was a trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank), the White House deputy national security adviser
for the Barack Obama administration,
a partner at O'Melveny & Myers LLP,
a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank) and a 2008
Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Derek
Douglas was a special assistant for urban affairs for the Barack Obama administration, and an associate
at O'Melveny & Myers LLP.
Danielle C. Gray
is an assistant to the president for the Barack
Obama administration, and was a lawyer at O'Melveny & Myers LLP.
Ronald A. Klain
was a partner at O'Melveny & Myers
LLP, is married to Monica Medina,
and a trustee at the Third Way.
Monica
Medina is married to Ronald A. Klain,
and the principal deputy under secretary for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
William
M. Daley is a trustee at the Third Way,
a member of the Commercial Club of
Chicago, and was the chief of staff for the Barack Obama administration.
Newton
N. Minow is a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, and a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
R.
Eden Martin is the president of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, and counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP
Michelle
Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin
LLP.
Barack
Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin
LLP.
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