Why Are Federal Bureaucrats Buying Guns and Ammo? $158 Million Spent By Non-Military Agencies

Adam Andrzejewski 

...This week, our organization at OpenTheBooks.com updated our data to include gun and ammo purchases over fiscal year 2015 and a partial FY2016. Spending on guns and ammo at 58 non-military federal agencies – including 40 regulatory, administrative agencies – amounted to $158 million.

The continued growth of the federal arsenal begs the question: Just whom are the feds planning to battle?

More examples of agencies amassing firepower over the last two years: 

• Loading the Gun Locker – Federal agencies spent $44 million on guns, including an “urgent” order for 20 M-16 Rifles with extra magazines at the Department of Energy ($49,559); shotguns and Glock pistols at the General Services Administration ($16,568); and a bulk order of pistols, sights, and accessories by the Bureau of Reclamation whose main job is to build dams, power plants, and canals ($697,182).  

• Buying Bullets in Bulk – The government spent $114 million on ammunition, including bulk purchases by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ($66,927); the Smithsonian ($42,687); and the Railroad Retirement Board ($6,941). The Social Security Administration spent $61,129 on bullets including 50,000 rounds of ammunition plus 12-gauge buckshot and slug ammo.
  
  The EPA special agents purchased ammunition for their .357 and 9mm revolvers and buckshot for their shotguns. While Bernie Sanders claimed that the biggest adversary to the United States was climate change, the EPA stood ready to fight in ways we couldn’t have imagined.
   
• Hollow-Point Bullets – Despite being outlawed by the Geneva Convention, federal agencies spent $426,268 on hollow-point bullets, including orders from the Forest Service, National Park Service, Office of Inspector General, Bureau of Fiscal Service, as well as Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshals, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
   
• Department of the Interior – The agency’s mission is to "manage America's vast natural and cultural resources." However, over the last two years, the agency spent $4.4 million on guns and ammunition. Although the National Park Service is responsible for nearly half of this spending – mostly to arm its park police – six other bureaus and offices under the Department of Interior spent millions of dollars to amass firepower. 
  The U.S. Geological Survey provides “real-time data and information on current conditions and earth observations.” Yet, the agency loaded up on Winchester Black Shadow shotguns and bulk ammunition. Even the Office of the Inspector General armed up – purchasing G27 Glocks, shotgun slugs, and frangible ammo.
  
  Just who is U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service trying to sneak up on? The agency was created to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats – but they spent $410,263 on .308 rifles, Glock pistols, and semi-automatic rifles. Then, they modified their Glocks with silencers.

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