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Homeland Security: Do citizens benefit?

Posted by
Walter Geiger
in Opinion
Monday, May 14. 2012
Comments (4)
By Robert Heiney

The DHS, an Orwellian sounding agency that literally smothers you with surveillance, gun toting guards, naked scanners at airports and other 1984 type controls, is looking to purchase up to 450,000,000 hollow point bullets.

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#1 Joyce Simpkins on 05/17/12 at 01:12 PM
I was under the impression that (for the military) due to agreements in the Geneva convention such things as hollow Points were not to be used. While law enforcement and homeland security are not 'military' and not bound by things like the Geneva Convention, what would they need hollow points bullets for, that normall issue ball ammo would not do? This does not bode well...
#2 Yeu Kno Hu on 05/17/12 at 03:00 PM
Law enforcement is not bound by the Geneva Convention as it only applies to the conducting of war operations.

Hollow points are much more effective at inflicting damage on a subject, but trade off penetration. So, if you are using them against a subject with not body armor, you are much more likely to causing a debilitating wound. By the same token, hollow points are less likely to penetrate hard structures like the skin of an aircraft. Likewise, a hollow point that has hit one subject is much less likely to go through them with enough force to penetrate another (possibly innocent) subject. It is possible (to penetrate the skin of a airplane, or multiple people), but much less likely.

My guess is they are looking wanting to increase their anti-personnel capability, without risking secondary casualties and/or damage.
#3 Diana Ross on 05/17/12 at 06:08 PM
The issue is that standard bullets do not stand up to what they are presented to on some situations. They will not use them all of the time but when deamed as a must have for the job. Yes I would agree that the number is more than a bit high but they are faced with more than we could ever imagine. The force is larger than many may know. If that was my family member doing the job I would want them to have what they needed to come home at the end of the shift. As well as, still being able to protect us on the home front!!!!
#4 Robert Heiney on 05/22/12 at 08:36 PM
Hi Diana,
Don't forget that many DHS employees don't have real police powers. They are for example TSA employees. Many don't carry guns.

So why all the bullets?

Perhaps to artificially drive up the cost of ammunition, using your tax dollars. And associated with that tactic, take bullets out of circulation. You might like that idea but it's really unconstitutional and a flagrant misuse of public funds.
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