Bullet demand hitting local law enforcement resupply efforts
Jim O’Neal, WITZ News Director assisted in compiling this report.
The national demand for ammunition due to speculation on coming federal mandates is being felt by local law enforcement.
Jasper Police Chief Michael Bennett presented quotes to purchase ammunition for duty and training to the Jasper Board of Public Works today. The low bid from Kiesler Police Supply and Ammunition Co. for $5725.40 was approved by the board but Chief Bennett added the caveat that once he orders the ammunition for the department, it may not be delivered for up to a year.
“With the ammo situation across the country, who knows,” Chief Bennett told the board this morning on the delivery situation.
Bennett also told the board the budget for ammunition had increased from $4500 in 2012 to $6500 for 2013 in anticipation of increased costs due to demand and shortages.
The majority of the ammunition approved for purchase today was to replenish the department’s practice ammunition. The officers are required to conduct firearms training 4 to 5 times each year. Although the practice ammunition is much less expensive —the department will pay $194.66 per case of .223 caliber practice ammo compared to $882.65 for duty ammo— it is still difficult to find in stock.
Dubois County Sheriff Donny Lampert stated that his department does not have a problem getting funding for service weapons or ammunition as the money for those expenses is generated by fees for handgun carry permits.
“We’ve been pretty fortunate because we have that firearms fund, which comes directly from handgun permits – the money we take in from that,” he explained. “So we haven’t asked for any firearms money for a while now.”
Although the sheriff’s department is well-funded for that expense, Deputy Tim Lampert reported he is currently having difficulties locating ammunition to replenish the department’s stock.
According to Huntingburg Assistant Police Chief Ronnie Bowman, the department currently has a two month wait period for .40 caliber ammunition and a six month wait period for .223 caliber rounds.
Ferdinand Police Chief Ted Bieker stated their department has a stockpile of ammunition available and has held off training, but indicated the training is necessary. “We are fortunate we have this stockpile ahead of time,” he said.
According to a Feb. 28 Wall Street Journal report, ammunition manufacturers aren’t revealing how much ammunition is being sold, but local supplier Jeff Miley at Jeff’s Bait and Guns says he can’t keep it in stock. In addition, when he does order, his suppliers can’t fulfill orders large enough to allow for savings on shipping costs. “Ammunition costs aren’t increasing significantly for us, about 10 percent,” he explained, “mainly the cost of shipping is getting me because we can’t buy in large enough volume to offset that cost.”
Local firearms training companies have even had to make some changes in supply chains.
Pinnacle Defense, a defensive firearms training company based in St. Anthony, now purchases its ammunition through its parent training company, ICE Training Company (ICE is an acronym for Integrity, Consistency, Efficiency). Prior to the increased demand nationally, they and their students were able to purchase ammunition locally, since the increase, their parent company has secured a supply for their training organizations due to problems with supply chains.
“We have a resource, if they sign up for a course, they can purchase the ammunition through us and it will be sent to us for their training,” said Craig Weyer, co-owner of Pinnacle Defense. “On average a student with one of our courses will use up to 600 rounds of ammunition.”
The problems with supply are not currently affecting the operations of any department in the county.
