Even the NRA scoffs at right wing fears of feds hoarding ammo

Where has all the ammo gone? Is the Department of Homeland Security buying up all the bullets in the country? Is this a sneaky, sinister scheme to disarm America’s gun owners?

There are answers to those questions, but not the ones conspiracy theorists have suggested. For a couple of years now, the fevered brains in the right wing, gun-worshiping blogosphere have been overheating at the thought of the federal government hoarding billions of rounds of ammunition and leaving none for the patriots who would defend liberty against the shock troops of the Obama dictatorship.

Reports got into mainstream media outlets, such as the Denver Post and Forbes, that DHS had plans to purchase enough ammo to sustain a hot war for 20 years. Apparently, some federal bureaucrat did, indeed, contemplate a big bullet buy in order to get a good price. But it appears this was an idea that went nowhere.

A recent post on a pro-gun rights web site, “Bearing Arms,” sets the record straight, noting General Accounting Office records that show DHS ammunition purchases have actually steadily declined since 2009, Barack Obama’s first year in office. That doesn’t mean bullets have not been harder to find, but the reason for the scarcity is something quite different from a government plot to disarm the citizenry. In fact, it’s just the opposite.

According to the National Rifle Assn. – that’s right, the NRA – all that ammunition is being bought and stockpiled by private gun owners. Manufacturers, such as Federal Cartridge and Winchester Ammunition, report very high demand, all of it coming from private consumers.

Perversely, the bullet-buying binge began prior to the 2008 election when firearms sales skyrocketed. And why were so many guns being sold? Perhaps it was due to the fear-mongering about a black Kenyan socialist taking over the White House and confiscating everyone’s guns.

One conspiracy theory feeds into another and the idiocy thrives like kudzu. Will the anti-government militia crowd accept the truth about the ammo supply now that the NRA is telling them they are wrong? Don’t hold your breath. Just wait for the next alarming email that reveals how the NRA has become Obama’s tool and Wayne LaPierre is hiding a secret birth certificate that proves he was born in Havana.