Social Security purchases 174,000 bullets

[Berserker]

hahaha, let the conspiracy theory nuts go wild!!!!!

"the bullets must be for use against American citizens."
My favorite: "Social Security Administration is purchasing the bullets as part of preparations for civil unrest"

Now the real reason:
http://www.federalnewsradio.com/525/302 ... 0-bullets-

[MorGrendel]

Agents carry .357 caliber pistols, Lasher said. The bullets, which add up to about 590 per agent, are for the upcoming fiscal year. Most will be expended on the firing range.

Huh, I'd practice shoot FMJ. HP have a nasty habit of boucing back when they hit something hard like a backstop.

[Berserker]

Maybe they are also practicing dodging by having the bullets bounce back to them after they shoot them ;)

But really, they are pros. I'm sure they know what they are doing.

[MorGrendel]

Pros pick ammo they don't have to dodge. :)

Seems like a lot of added risk . . . Unless they also bought other "range" bullets, we don't know about (mystery music). At such a short range (I assume they are shooting pistols at targets less than 50 yards away) , I don't see much point to practicing with HPs. I get running a few through your gun to get the feel, but I can't forsee any tangable difference. However, I've never fired HPs, so . . . I might be completely off.

[Berserker]

None of us have seen their facilities, or are trained to be a special agent. You're simply assuming things. Who's to say they are in fact shooting at a short range target with a hard back that will make bullets ricochet back in their face?

They are special agents and as such you must trust that they know what they are doing. All this speculation is pointless.

[MorGrendel]

Yeah, I was assuming, not being IG enforcer myself.

However, I find the most articles relating to guns to be horribly bias and factually wrong. This is true both ways; Either you're a nut or you're Hitler, nothing in between. I don't think anyone who might draw attention to this purchase is a nut, just because the article quoted a few perfect one liners from a couple of no-names.

However, where I quoted the article, and particularly disagree with the statement that "Most will be expended on the practice range". I haven't fired HP, because most ranges have a ban against it due to the danger of the ammunition. This isn't to say that the IGE won't have a range made of ballistic jelly, but more to say that the author doesn't know either. Also, HP is more expensive, so just seems to me to be a waste.

Finally, I assume short range because after 50 yds HP pistol rounds can begin to tumble. Training doesn't change that, except in Wanted where you can curve a bullet's trajectory.

I guess my impression of the article was not information, but a hodge-podge of half-truths to disswade the casual observer.

[Berserker]

I don't think anyone who might draw attention to this purchase is a nut

- I agree, but the article does not mentions that at all. You're putting words in the mouth of the author. However, SSA actually had to put out a statement to explain this purchase specifically because of the nuts out there who believed SSA was going to take over the world. It was not because of the sane people who simply wanted to know what money is being spent on. It was put out to quench rumors.

..particularly disagree with the statement that "Most will be expended on the practice range".

- The author did not make this up. That was the exact statement put out by Jonathan L. Lasher, the SSA's Assistant Inspector General for external relations. This is not just "a hodge-podge of half-truths".

But why are you picking a fight over this meaningless stuff? The point of the article was simply to state that the bullets were bought for agents and not for the retired citizens. It poked fun of the nuts out there who want to believe anything else. That's it! It was a funny situation! Who cares that these nuts were no-names who thought our retired citizens were going to be shot by Social Security on their next paycheck? They are no-names precisely because they believe that.

[MorGrendel]

I saw the article via Yahoo, which made it seem like the SSA was up to no good. The the first 5 paragraphs (of 15 total) sensationalize the story and throw fuel on the fire. I not knowing anything about it, thought it strange and read it with an empirical mind. By the end of the article, I was just mad. I hate aggregate journalism.

I don't think I'm putting words in his mouth, he opens with

It didn't take long for the Internet to start buzzing with conspiracy theories

and

Why is the agency . . . stockpiling ammunition? Whom are they going to use it on?

. Not journalism. I guess I don't see it as funny.

Funny would have been if SSA released a statement that the bullets are for the inevetable zombie apocalpyse.

[Berserker]

Obviously, you've made up your mind that this article is horrible. I'm going to stop arguing with you.

The rest of you, enjoy the irony of Social Security being rumored to take out its citizens with the new bullets.