Over the course of the past decade, the amount of excise taxes collected nationally have similarly increased, reaching a new peak in — a year that is four months old. In a phone interview with The Atlantic Wire, a representative of the U. Fish and Wildlife Service wasn't able to answer whether or not government purchases are subject to the tax. Since the tax is applied to manufacturers, it's likely that it does. Nonetheless, the pattern is the same: a big recent increase in the number of guns and ammunition being sold.
Update, May 8: In fact, the government is exempt from excise taxes, according to the Code of Federal Regulations, Section 27 :. James Inhofe of Oklahoma presented the most rational version of the irrational argument that the government is trying to keep ammo out of the hands of regular Americans. The Daily Caller transcribes :. As Media Matters outlined earlier today, there's no evidence of this. Much of the case Inhofe makes stems from Jones' claim that the Department of Homeland Security wants to buy up 1.
In fact, that number is for an agreement to last five years, and represents the maximum that would be purchased. A DHS spokesman told Republican House investigators last month that the department wasn't actually planning on buying all 1. In a letter to Sen. Tom Coburn R-Okla.
She also pointed out that the department has actually marginally decreased its ammunitions purchases over the last few years. As bullets fly off the shelves, Alex Jones has warned his audience that the ammo shortage is a sign that the federal government is gearing up for widespread civic unrest. Still, that does seem like a lot of ammo for a non-defense agency. According to Napolitano, DHS had over million rounds of ammunition in its inventory at the end of Coupled with a recent nationwide ammunitions shortage, the apparent government stockpiling has sent the conspiracy theory mill into overdrive.
As bullets fly off the shelves, Alex Jones has warned his audience that the ammo shortage is a sign that the federal government is gearing up for widespread civic unrest, and engaging in an "arms race against the American people. That as-yet unfounded fear is underscored by an interesting nationwide trend: A recent poll found that a full 29 percent of Americans—including 44 percent of Republicans and 27 percent of independents—believe a revolution to protect their liberties might be necessary in the next few years.
If more than a quarter of the population, and nearly half of Republicans, believes that an armed confrontation with the government is imminent—and they are buying up weapons and ammo to prepare for the struggle—then it would only be logical for the federal government, and the Department of Homeland Security in particular, to prepare for this contingency. But is the US government and the hundreds of billions of dollars of yearly military spending really trying to incite an "arms race" with citizens?
Until US citizens start equipping themselves with Predator drones and aircraft carriers, the government will always have the upper hand when it comes to the use of force.
With that in mind, the idea that Homeland Security is trying to buy up all the bullets so civilians can't have any is silly. Who cares how much ammo anti-government citizens buy when they're facing an opposition with the largest budgets on Earth?
So while it is true that there are currently off-and-on ammo shortages being reported around the country, Homeland Security purchasing plans for the future, mind you aren't to blame.
As Raw Story 's Megan Carpentier notes , the department trains thousands of law enforcement personnel across many agencies and levels of government, so it needs a large ammo repository. According to the DHS, 80 percent of the ammunition it purchases goes to training.
Even the NRA has distanced itself from such conspiracy claims, saying last August that such rumors were no more than "an effort to stir up fear about recent acquisitions of ammunition. Skip to header Skip to main content Skip to footer Feature. On Monday, Inhofe reiterated his concern in a radio interview with Laura Ingraham. Biden owes his core voters student loan forgiveness. Michael Arceneaux.
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