The press release describes a 5-year, $75 million contract to "provide the organization’s agents and officers with .223 Rem duty and training ammunition."
For those who aren't familiar with firearms, .223 Remington ammo is used in AR-15 rifles. It's not technically identical to 5.56 NATO, but rifles that can fire 5.56 NATO can also fire .223 Remington.
These aren't pistol rounds, in other words, and they can be used by soldiers in military rifles.
In government quantities, these rounds cost roughly $0.20 each. This means that $75 million will acquire about 375 million rounds of ammunition.
That's 18,750 rounds of ammunition per ICE employee
ICE currently employs 20,000 people. If the 375 million rounds of ammunition were equally distributed across all 20,000 ICE employees, that would give each employee 18,750 rounds of ammunition.
That's a massive amount of ammunition. The average county sheriff's deputy is allotted approximately 50 rounds per month of duty ammo in order to maintain some minimum level of firearms proficiency. That't 600 rounds per year.
SWAT team members, the elite firearms squads of police departments, will often fire 1,000 - 2,000 rounds of ammunition per month in training. Active duty soldiers may go through several thousand rounds a month during certain periods of their training, and soldiers in hot war zones can, of course, burn through thousands of rounds a month, too.
But distributing 18,750 rounds of ammunition to each of the 20,000 ICE employees is so far off the scale of what's routinely required that it's scary. It begs the question: What does Homeland Security know that they aren't telling us?
375 million rounds of ammunition is more in line with what you'd need for a full-scale military operation, not merely protecting the border from people who flee when they're bombed by pepper spray.
Federal Tactical ammunition is very good quality ammunition
Notably, Federal is a well respected quality brand of ammunition. It's not junk ammo for plinking or low-end training. This is battle-ready ammunition that gets the job done when you need to stop targets cold.
As the president of Federal Ammunition explains, "Officers in the field require the highest quality ammunition at their disposal, in their vigilant fight to protect our freedoms. Federal Tactical ammunition ensures the highest performance threshold, and absolute officer confidence in terminal performance."
The phrase "terminal performance," for those of you who aren't experienced shooters, means the ammunition can be reliably expected to accomplish two things when it strikes an intended target: Penetration and expansion. Or, put medically, making deep holes and big holes in your intended target. That's the purpose of ammunition, of course: to physically stop someone whose actions are threatening your person, your family or perhaps even your nation. Big holes achieve that goal, and the ammunition design and composition determines the ballistic effects on the target.
This isn't just normal ammunition, by the way: It's branded "tactical" ammunition. As the press release states:
Federal Tactical is a trusted partner for some of the most intense conditions encountered by law enforcement. It achieves accuracy and terminal performance that defeats tough barriers with minimal deviation. The ammunition utilizes the highest quality Federal brass, projectiles and primers.
"Defeats tough barriers with minimal deviation" means you can shoot targets in vehicles, right through window glass, and still expect to get good hits. This .223 Remington ammunition will also go right through car doors, normal house doors, residential walls and building windows. This is the class of ammunition you use when you're serious about achieving tactical superiority over an enemy threat.
Again, this does not appear to be "training" ammo, although it can of course be used for training. But that isn't its ultimate purpose. This is tactical engagement ammunition to be used in a large-scale shooting war.
I support ICE, secure borders and law enforcement... and I still have questions about this quantity of ammo
For the record, I support the mission of ICE to defend America's borders, and I support building a wall. My wife is a legal immigrant, so I'm very familiar with the process of immigration and naturalization. Like most Americans, I welcome legal immigrants but demand an end to illegal invasions by foreign nationals who arrogantly walk across the border then demand voting rights and welfare benefits.
I'm also a longtime supporter of law enforcement, and I've personally trained with a long list of former military, special forces and law enforcement veterans. Their mission is extremely difficult, and these people are under-paid and under-appreciated. Most of them are good Americans who love their country and are performing honest work to try to keep America safe.
Even with that stance, I still question why ICE needs 375 million rounds of .223 ammunition. This is clearly much more than what's needed for proficiency training over the time period of the contract. There's little question this is a stockpiling effort by ICE to put away a few hundred million rounds for some significant, anticipated event.
...Like, say, a coordinated invasion of the U.S. southern border by enemy combatants looking to overrun and occupy the United States of America. It only takes one high-altitude EMP detonation to soften up U.S. defenses and leave the border largely vulnerable to a coordinated mass invasion. Notably, firearms still work after an EMP weapon detonation, since firearm cartridges operate solely on the laws of chemistry and physics rather than relying on electronics (which is why smart people are buying rifles, not Bitcoin).
When SHTF and your iPhone stops working because it's made out of complex electronics, your rifle and pistol will still function. If you learn how to use iron sights and scope reticles, you can still be effective even without complex electronics.
If ICE is arming up, maybe you should, too...
Regardless of your interpretation of all this, it's clear that somebody at DHS wants ICE employees to be extremely well armed. I wouldn't be surprised if an internet researcher dug up another contract that awarded a rifle manufacturer another $20 million for 10,000 battle-ready firearms. After all, what good is all the premium ammo if you don't have premium rifles to use it with?
Somebody with the power to spend huge dollars is obviously anticipating a major land assault on the United States... almost certainly from the U.S. southern border. Notably, anti-gun Democrats are demanding that citizens turn in all their guns and be left entirely disarmed and helpless as events unfold. (See Guns.news for daily coverage.)
That's exactly why you should take this news as a cue to buy more guns and ammo while you still can. The Trump administration just outlawed bump stocks, by the way -- tactically useless devices of zero interest to real operators. But it's an indication that even Trump may incrementally outlaw rifles and the equipment that goes with them (such as gun magazines, lower receivers and of course 3D printers).
My advice is to do what ICE is doing and start stocking up on gear you'll probably need in the near future. Find the best prices on ammunition at AmmoSeek.com, and if you're looking for high-quality rifles or pistols, my current top recommendation is SigSauer.com, which sells the MCX rifle platform that has proven to be ultra-reliable.
Keep it legal, get good training and keep your damn finger off the trigger unless you're on target and ready to fire, okay? The most annoying thing in the world about newbie gun owners is how they pick up a pistol and immediately put their finger on the trigger. Guns don't kill people, but stupid people with guns do accidentally kill other people if they're not careful.
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