Local law enforcement face ammo shortage as gun owners, DHS stock up

Local law enforcement agencies across the country are facing an ammo shortage, as gun owners concerned about new laws at the federal and state level stock up on firearms and bullets. 

At the same time, the Department of Homeland Security has said it wants to buy more than 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition in the next four or five years -- which could put further strain on the supply. 

The shortage, coupled with an increase in prices, comes as many gun owners head to the stores in anticipation of new gun control laws. States like Colorado and New York have already approved such legislation, while Democrats move toward bringing a bill to the Senate floor. At the moment, the congressional bill does not include an assault-weapons ban, but a ban is expected to be floated as an amendment. 

Still, what one official described as "panic-buying" set in, as lawmakers rallied to draft new legislation in the wake of a series of tragic mass shootings last year, from Aurora, Colo., to Oak Creek, Wis., to Newtown, Conn.

In Tennessee's Hamilton County, the sheriff's department says its officers will be given fewer bullets when they train at the range. 

"The concern over firearms availability and ammunition availability and potentials of gun control certainly has impacted the availability of ammunition purchased locally," training coordinator Jody Mays said, according to WDEF. 

Earlier this year, Rollingwood Police Chief Dayne Pryor told MyFoxAustin.com that "panic-buying" is contributing to a situation where officers trying to order new firearms are being forced to wait. He said the city, which is outside Austin, has been told to expect wait times to purchase AR-15s and ammunition. 

"We have adequate supplies right now, but we're limited to how often we can go to the firing range to train because we want to be conservative right now," he said. 

Similarly, the Jenks Police Department in Oklahoma has faced rising ammo and assault weapons costs. 

Police Chief Cameron Arthur said the department is still waiting on an order from October, according to KJRH. 

Meanwhile, according to CNSNews.com, Rep. Timothy Huelskamp, R-Kan., said he still hasn't heard back from the Department of Homeland Security on why it's buying 1.6 billion rounds. 

The Homeland Security Department, though, has said it needs the bullets for law enforcement agents in training and on duty. 

Published federal notices about the ammo buy have agitated conspiracy theorists since the fall. The government's explanation is much less sinister. 

The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Ga., and others like it run by DHS use up to 15 million rounds a year, mostly on shooting ranges and in training exercises. 

More than 90 federal agencies and 70,000 agents and officers used the department's training center last year. 

The rest of the 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition would be purchased by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal government's second largest criminal investigative agency. 

The Homeland Security ammo buy is not the first time the government's bullets purchases have sparked concerns on the Internet. The same thing happened last year when the Social Security Administration posted a notice that it was buying 174,000 hollow point bullets. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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New York offers $500 reward for reporting illegal gun owners

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  Jan. 15, 2013: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks after signing New York's Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act into law in Albany, N.Y.AP

ALBANY, N.Y. –  Nearly a year before signing the nation's most stringent gun control measure into law, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo launched a hotline that allows state residents to report illegal gun owners in exchange for a $500 reward.

The measure is part of a four-pronged approach established by the governor's office to reduce gun violence in urban communities, according to CBS6Albany.com.

New Yorkers can call the "Gun Tip Line" if they believe someone they know has an illegal gun. Hotline calls are answered by state police and tips are referred to local law enforcement, the station reported.

“This initiative seeks to turn neighbor against neighbor and use their own tax dollars to pay for the $500 reward,” Republican Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin told the station.

Three police agencies contacted by CBS6Albany.com for comment said they have not received tips from state police. Two of the agencies said they were unaware the program existed before this week.

Cuomo and legislative leaders said after announcing a budget deal Wednesday night that they will continue to discuss changes in January's gun control law before a provision kicks in banning the sale of 10-bullet magazines.

The gun measure outlaws the purchase of any magazines that carry more than seven bullets, the nation's most stringent limit. That would have put a severe limit on the sale of guns with industry-standard 10-bullet magazines when the provision of the law went into effect April 15.

"There is no such thing as a seven-bullet magazine. That doesn't exist, so you really have no practical option," Cuomo said. He told reporters that any suggestion this will be a rollback of the law is "wholly without basis."

Cuomo said the state needs to allow the sale of handguns and rifles with 10-shot magazines, but New Yorkers will still be required to keep no more than seven bullets in them, except at shooting ranges and competitions. Violating the seven-bullet limit is a misdemeanor but a violation if the magazine is in the owner's home.

Cuomo minimized the cleanup now needed in the bill as addressing "ambiguities" and "grammatical errors" and routine for complex measures. They include exempting police and their weapons and allowing Hollywood to continue to film violent movies and TV shows in New York using weapons outlawed under his measure.

Tom King, president of the New York Rifle & Pistol Association, said the move will affect gun sellers but does nothing for gun owners.

He says the group plans to sue this week to overturn the gun law, which also banned sales of some formerly legal semi-automatic firearms and requires federal background checks for private gun sales.

Although Cuomo said Wednesday that the gun bill was developed over months within his administration, it was rushed to a vote in the Legislature after closed-door negotiations Jan. 15. Cuomo issued an order approved by the Legislature that suspends the three days' public review of all bills under the constitution.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Click here for more from CBS6Albany.com.

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Coburn: Any proposal that keeps a record of legit gun owners will 'kill' Senate bill

Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn said Sunday any Senate legislation on gun control that includes a national registry of firearms owners will be a deal breaker.

Coburn is part of the bipartisan Senate panel seeking ways to curb gun violence and that purportedly is about to agree on a proposal to expand background checks to most private gun sales, with national record-keeping still unresolved.

“There absolutely will not be record-keeping of legitimate gun owners,” Coburn told “Fox News Sunday.” “That will kill this bill.”

The potential deal on background checks was reported Saturday by The Washington Post.

“I don’t think we’re that close,” Coburn also said.

Federal law already requires licensed firearm dealers to keep records.

The Senate panel is made up of four Democrats and four Republicans, but recent negotiations are purportedly being led by a smaller team that includes Coburn and New York Democratic Sen. Charles E. Schumer.

The eight members of the Democrat-controlled chamber have been negotiating since returning to Washington in January, just weeks after the Dec. 14, 2012, shootings at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school in which 20 first-graders and six adults were killed.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected this week to begin considering new proposals.  

Meanwhile, President Obama is working on a plan that, like Senate proposals, calls for background checks as well as bans on assault weapons and high-capacity gun magazines.

The National Rifle Association, the country’s most powerful gun lobby, opposes background checks and a federal database.

Wayne LaPierre, the group’s executive vice president, recently told Fox the ideas won’t achieve their intended purpose of tracking guns used in crimes because criminals won’t sign up. In addition, he said, federal law will not allow such a database to include the names of people with emotional problems – who have committed several of the most-recent mass shootings.

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