Winchester to Deliver 200 Million 40-Cal. Rounds to Homeland Security
By Editor Monday, December 14, 2009
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Winchester Ammunition was recently awarded a contract by the Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) division of the Department of Homeland Security to supply a maximum of 200 million, 40 cal. rounds over the next five years.
The load selected for this contract is a 135-grain, hollow point designed for the office of Field Operations of Customs and Border Protection. It will fall under the Winchester Ranger line.
Anyone care to speculate on why ICE might need to shoot off 4,566 hollow points every hour of every day for the next 5 years? Is this government waste (an end of budget spending spree), or a sign of things to come?
There are only 307 million people in the US. 15,000 of whom work for Homeland Security.
Hollow point bullets are NOT used for target practice. Their sole purpose is to kill a living target (or at least to scare the living shit out of a living target). American soldiers fighting terrorists are not allowed to use hollow point bullets. The Geneva Convention prohibits their use internationally. However, the Geneva Convention does NOT prohibit their use domestically.
These 200,000,000 hollow point bullets are clearly intended for use on THIS side of the border.
The 135 grain bullets have less penetration/stopping power than heavier rounds, but they are lighter to carry more of them. They are intended for use in sub-machine guns (like an MP10), not pistols. Such weapons are used for “room clearing,” NOT self-defense. It seems like whoever made the purchase was thinking about preparing ICE agents for major firefights rather than simply self-defense at close quarters.
Also, an order of this magnitude will clearly decrease the amount of ammunition being manufactured for other customers. Not just retail sale, but also sales to local law enforcement agencies. Was this also part of the agenda?
