Police Feel Wartime Pinch on Ammo

[JuJu]

The U.S. military's soaring demand for small-arms ammunition, fueled by two wars abroad, has left domestic police agencies less able to quickly replenish their supplies, leading some to conserve rounds by cutting back on weapons training, police officials said.

To varying degrees, officials in Montgomery, Loudoun and Anne Arundel counties said, they have begun rationing or making other adjustments to accommodate delivery schedules that have changed markedly since the military campaigns began in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Before the war, lag time from order to delivery was three to four months; now it's six months to a year," said James Gutshall, property supervisor for the Loudoun Sheriff's Office. "I purchased as much as I could this year because I was worried it would be a problem."

Montgomery police began limiting the amount of ammunition available to officers on the practice range a little more than year ago, said Lucille Baur, a county police spokeswoman. The number of cases a group of officers can use in a training session has been cut from 10 to three.

Gene Voegtlin, legislative counsel for the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), said dozens of chiefs at a meeting of the organization two weeks ago agreed that scarcity of ammunition is a widespread problem. He said rifle ammunition, which is used by the military and many police agencies, was a particular concern.

"It mostly has to with delays where it's impacting training more than anything else," Voegtlin said. "The chiefs are doing what they can to adjust to it."
No law enforcement agency contacted by The Washington Post reported running out of ammunition.

But some expressed concern that a prolonged shortage could eventually affect officers' competence as marksmen. Practice with live ammunition is a crucial part of any police training regime, experts say. A lack of practice can translate into diminished ability in the field, where accuracy and speed can mean the difference between life and death, they say.

"It's critical," said Scott Knight, who chairs the IACP's firearms committee. "We're talking about the use of deadly force, and the skilled use of deadly force is paramount to any police agency. It is like any other skill, so it must be practiced regularly."

Such training is considered vital to limit the incidence of officer-involved shootings, as well as to prepare officers for those times when they confront armed assailants. Experts say many agencies and the military increased emphasis on marksmanship training after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to better prepare for a war that was no longer confined to traditional battlefields.

Knight, who is also chief of the 24-person Chaska Police Department near Minneapolis, said small agencies are struggling more because they generally order in smaller quantities and operate with less flexible budgets. Knight said he is concerned that some departments may be "shooting less because of the ammunition shortages."

The scarcity of ammunition has also driven up the cost, presenting police agencies and gun owners with another challenge. That problem has been compounded by a sharp increase in the price of copper and other metals, a surge that is a result of demand from booming economies in such nations as China and India.

Continued:
washingtonpost.com

 

[GraceAbounds]

Ammo prices are through the roof IMO. My DH and I can't really afford to go target shooting as much as we'd like anymore.

Copper is being stolen left and right due the prices being so high. Construction sites are having a lot of problems with theft.

 

[JuJu]

Ammo prices are through the roof IMO. My DH and I can't really afford to go target shooting as much as we'd like anymore.

Copper is being stolen left and right due the prices being so high. Construction sites are having a lot of problems with theft.

That's always a news story nowadays.
I'd be really pissed if I came home from work to find someone had stolen my A/C coils, I'd have to get my gun. :jk

 

[JuJu]

Looks like a lot of folks are gonna be affected by this ammo dilemna.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has 90 guns for every 100 citizens, making it the most heavily armed society in the world, a report released on Tuesday said.

U.S. citizens own 270 million of the world's 875 million known firearms, according to the Small Arms Survey 2007 by the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International Studies.

About 4.5 million of the 8 million new guns manufactured worldwide each year are purchased in the United States, it said.

"There is roughly one firearm for every seven people worldwide. Without the United States, though, this drops to about one firearm per 10 people," it said.
India had the world's second-largest civilian gun arsenal, with an estimated 46 million firearms outside law enforcement and the military, though this represented just four guns per 100 people there. China, ranked third with 40 million privately held guns, had 3 firearms per 100 people.

Germany, France, Pakistan, Mexico, Brazil and Russia were next in the ranking of country's overall civilian gun arsenals.

On a per-capita basis, Yemen had the second most heavily armed citizenry behind the United States, with 61 guns per 100 people, followed by Finland with 56, Switzerland with 46, Iraq with 39 and Serbia with 38.

France, Canada, Sweden, Austria and Germany were next, each with about 30 guns per 100 people, while many poorer countries often associated with violence ranked much lower. Nigeria, for instance, had just one gun per 100 people.

"Firearms are very unevenly distributed around the world. The image we have of certain regions such as Africa or Latin America being awash with weapons -- these images are certainly misleading," Small Arms Survey director Keith Krause said.

"Weapons ownership may be correlated with rising levels of wealth, and that means we need to think about future demand in parts of the world where economic growth is giving people larger disposable income," he told a Geneva news conference.

The report, which relied on government data, surveys and media reports to estimate the size of world arsenals, estimated there were 650 million civilian firearms worldwide, and 225 million held by law enforcement and military forces.

Five years ago, the Small Arms Survey had estimated there were a total of just 640 million firearms globally.

"Civilian holdings of weapons worldwide are much larger than we previously believed," Krause said, attributing the increase largely to better research and more data on weapon distribution networks.

Only about 12 percent of civilian weapons are thought to be registered with authorities.

U.S. most armed country with 90 guns per 100 people - Yahoo! News

 

[GraceAbounds]

That is a misleading headline. But what else is new about the media. LOL!

 

[All Else Failed]

Yeah, my father owns a gun store and his prices have gone up.

 

[Peter Parka]

"The United States has 90 guns for every 100 citizens, making it the most heavily armed society in the world, a report released on Tuesday said.

U.S. citizens own 270 million of the world's 875 million known firearms, according to the Small Arms Survey 2007 by the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International Studies.

About 4.5 million of the 8 million new guns manufactured worldwide each year are purchased in the United States"

Sorry but that is just fucked up! Do you people have a gun addiction or something? Instead of Alcoholics Anonymous it sounds like you need guns anonymous!

 

[All Else Failed]

"The United States has 90 guns for every 100 citizens, making it the most heavily armed society in the world, a report released on Tuesday said.

U.S. citizens own 270 million of the world's 875 million known firearms, according to the Small Arms Survey 2007 by the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International Studies.

About 4.5 million of the 8 million new guns manufactured worldwide each year are purchased in the United States"

Sorry but that is just fucked up! Do you people have a gun addiction or something? Instead of Alcoholics Anonymous it sounds like you need guns anonymous!

I don't see how a large volume of guns is a bad thing.

 

[Peter Parka]

I don't see how a large volume of guns is a bad thing.

Why? What good do you see people doing with the said guns?

 

[GraceAbounds]

I have guns. I go target shooting which is a lot of fun. Many people in my family hunt and stock their refrigerators with meat. Guns are also great for home protection. I am not doing anything 'bad' with my guns and neither are 99% of other legal gun owners.

 

[Maritxu]

I have guns. I go target shooting which is a lot of fun. Many people in my family hunt and stock their refrigerators with meat. Guns are also great for home protection. I am not doing anything 'bad' with my guns and neither are 99% of other legal gun owners.

Grace has a point here when it comes to target shooting. What would worry me is that all those people buy guns because they want to protect themselves or else. I'm no fan of fear culture

 

[GraceAbounds]

Just because someone wants a gun for home protection does not mean they are in fear.

 

[dt3]

Just because someone wants a gun for home protection does not mean they are in fear.

Very true I'm still waiting on our money situation to settle down so I can get me a nice Glock

 

[JuJu]

I have guns. I go target shooting which is a lot of fun. Many people in my family hunt and stock their refrigerators with meat. Guns are also great for home protection. I am not doing anything 'bad' with my guns and neither are 99% of other legal gun owners.

That's right.

And in regard to self protection,
better to have one 'n not need it, kwim?

 

[Peter Parka]

I have guns. I go target shooting which is a lot of fun. Many people in my family hunt and stock their refrigerators with meat. Guns are also great for home protection. I am not doing anything 'bad' with my guns and neither are 99% of other legal gun owners.

So if you're just going target shooting, why do you need real bullets?

 

[GraceAbounds]

So if you're just going target shooting, why do you need real bullets?

You don't. You can use target rounds. Shooting a target round and shooting a bullet are two different things though and will affect your shooting accuracy. A real bullet will have more kick to it.

 

[Peter Parka]

You don't. You can use target rounds. Shooting a target round and shooting a bullet are two different things though and will affect your shooting accuracy. A real bullet will have more kick to it.

So why is it right that you can buy real bullets cheaply and easily enough?

 

[dt3]

So why is it right that you can buy real bullets cheaply and easily enough?

You can't hunt with target bullets.

 

[Peter Parka]

You can't hunt with target bullets.

Why do you need to hunt at a target practice site? Nothing against hunting, I just dont see why it cant be more controlled. (bullets provided at the site only ect)

 

[All Else Failed]

So if you're just going target shooting, why do you need real bullets?

I don't get what you mean by "real bullets".