A poll released by Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind shows some interesting numbers…
Eighteen percent of Democrats said an armed revolt ‘might be necessary,’ as compared to 27 percent of independents and 44 percent of Republicans. Support levels were similar among males and females but higher among less educated voters.
Rumors regarding a Department of Homeland Security purchase of hollow point ammunition have been circulating in the right wing media and on the internet for some time. The amount of bullets in these rumors purchased has varied from 450 million rounds to 1.6 billion rounds of hollow point ammunition. Some assert the government is using the ammunition buy to “dry up supplies.” Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK) introduced a bill to limit ammunition purchases by the DHS.
In a hearing regarding the ammunition purchases Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) questioned DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano on the alleged department ammunition “stockpile.”
You know, when Forbes Magazine or Drudge or some reputable news sources start to repeat the numbers…the numbers cease to become Internet rumors and they start having some credibility.
As a matter of fact, there were two different Op/Ed articles in Forbes regarding this stockpile and the now debunked rumor regarding the DHS purchase of 2,700 mine resistant vehicles. One of the primary sources for tank purchase of the Op/Ed was a “paramilitary blogger.” And as it turns out DHS has only 16 of these vehicles.
These long circulating ammunition stories prompted the NRA in cooperation with Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) to issue a statement last August about how and why these kinds of purchases are not unusual. The statement reminds readers that the DHS oversees many law enforcement agencies and that hollow point bullets are used by law enforcement to prevent injury of innocent bystanders. The NRA conclusion on the ammunition purchase and the rumors:
As most gun owners will agree, skepticism of government is healthy. But today, there are more than enough actual threats to the Second Amendment to keep gun owners busy.
Manufacturers will tell say they are having a difficult time keeping supplies of ammunition. But, the shortage isn’t because of the government; it is panic buying civilians that believe the government is coming after their guns.
First, ammunition manufacturers have been running at or near capacity for at least 10 years.
The gun-owning American public has seen and been through panic buying before, but never on a level compared to what we are seeing now.
Since Obama took office, there have been 65 million NICS checks done. Even if only two-thirds of those resulted in guns bought, that equates to 40 million new guns in the hands of consumers. All those new guns need to be fed, in addition to all the others still in the hands of consumers.
That’s a lot of bullets and there are plenty of rumors and politically charged feelings ginning up panic.
There are people out there that are equipped and think they are prepared to participate in armed conflict.
I hope those poll numbers are wrong.
Like kid’s guns with live ammo, this is all just healthy demand creating activity.