WASHINGTON, D.C. - Uncle Sam may be sending federal agents home, but there seems to be plenty of money to buy ammunition. The Department of Homeland Security has been on a bullet buying spree in recent months. Some believe it's the latest shot in the national gun debate. It's becoming a common problem at retail stores and ranges across the country.

"They come in," says Horst & McCann Firearms Sales Manager Scott McCurley. "They want ammo. We don't have ammo."

The Department of Homeland Security appears to be on a buying spree. Their most recent request is for 10 million rounds of hollow point bullets for a .40 caliber pistol, another 10 million rounds for a 9 millimeter, plus 1.6 million pistol cartridge 9mm ball bullets. That's just this year. Last March, DHS bought 450 million bullets. In September, another 200 million. That's in addition to the reported 1.6 billion rounds the government already had ordered. During the height of the Iraq war, US Soldiers used about 5.5 million rounds of ammunition every month. If you do the math here, that means the Dept. of Homeland Security has enough bullets to wage a full scale war for the next 30 years. DHS says the bullets are needed for training, but military veteran Richard Mason is doubtful.

"We never trained with hollow points, we didn't even see hollow points my entire 4 and a half years in the Marine Corps.," says Mason. "Why would they need all those hollow points, why would they need all those ball rounds just for training?"

McCurley says it's been a hot topic of conversation at his gun range.

"It takes a lot of ammunition to run," says McCurley. "15 million, I'll give you 20 million, but when you start getting into the billions in one year. That's not training. That's excessive waste."

Even some state lawmakers aren't' convinced.

"It serves one purpose," says Michael Smigiel (R-MD House of Delegates). "It's subterfuge. It's to keep it from being able to get out to the public, to raise the cost up."

According to the National Rifle Association, the ammunition buy-up should not be cause for concern. They say: "Hollow points are the defensive ammunition of choice for federal, state and local law enforcement officers across the country, just as they are for private citizens."
Dept. of Homeland Security on Bullet Buying Spree - Kristine Frazao