So. Us Libertarians and survivalists and preppers and Second Amendment Types are all just a bunch of crazy, conspiracy-addicts who see g-men in black helos behind every bush and have Kool-aid socials with Alex Jones, right? Well, that's what normal folks would have us believe. Hell, "preppers" even autocorrects to preposterous on the phone I'm typing on now so, we must totally out of our freakin gourds.
Wait... what?
You say obscure arms of the federal government, agencies that should have little if anything to do with armed enforcement agents, are stockpiling weapons and ammo at an alarming rate? And those agencies are buying things like 12-gauge shotguns, .40 SW and .357 Sig hollow-points; things that are usually, if not explicitly designed to be, used against people? Now, I'm a fan of the venerable .40 SW (Sig P229, baby. My weapon of Choice!) but, the way I see it, the only reason to buy several million (450 actually, but who's counting...) rounds of it is that you foresee a very pressing need arising to use it.
Wait, you say...
It's DHS, and they have to prep for natural disaster response. We all saw the violence in the wake of Katrina. They need to protect themselves from crazies that shoot at SAR helicopters. And NOAA's division of fisheries or whatever. Poachers can be downright unpleasant. And Social Security... retirees and disabled folks can be pretty... well... Education! The DOE, now they need a bunch of 12 gauges for... for...
You see what I did there? Stick wit me...
What the actual fuck is going on here? Why are they doing this?
These are agencies that operate exclusively WITHIN the borders of the U.S. and have no military powers and only indirect (or so I thought) law enforcement authority. It seems to me that Somebody at a real high pay grade thinks it prudent for the Fed to guns-and-ammo themselves all to hell and gone for something. Something that they obviously feel will be a Big Bad and that they will be "called on" or "forced" to put a lid on and, frankly, this scares the ever-lovin piss outta me. Again, these are internal agencies so, either they expect to be invaded from without and are prepping to assist in the formation of a militia OR the Big Bad they're expecting for supper...
...is us.
When the SHTF and our orderly, day to day society begins to go south, it might take armed government agents from DHS to enforce curfews and see to orderly distributions of rations and supplies. Or from the DOE to keep our kids in their schools to learn that "everything will be juuust fine". Or from NOAA to keep people from overfishing and taking too much for themselves and their families. Or from the IRS and SSA to make sure you keep paying your fair share and your neighbor uses your share... i mean, his benefits, correctly. Or from the FDA (haven't heard anything about them yet, but it wont surprise me when I do) to make sure you don't drink that unsafe raw milk from your neighbor's cow since you cant afford the "safe", federally approved stuff (that your local Kroger probly won't have anyway) or that your backyard garden doesn't make you not need the DHS rations...
Sinister, ain't it.
Now, I know conspiracyism is a slippery slope and it's easy to go from concerned citizen to tin foil hat model in 2.3 seconds but, people, I beg you to remember the old adage that just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean They ain't after ya.
But, hey. The Mainstream's probly right and it's probably just one big ol' misunderstanding and they really are just buying the expensive, front-line duty ammo to waste on paper-people and those fun Ozombie bin Laden targets. It is the same government that pays four- or five-figure prices for hammers and toilet seats after all...
Still... something's just itching in the back of the ol' brainpan on this one. Think I'll play a little Ask Dr. Google and see what he comes back with. I recommend you grab the nearest convenient web-enabled device and play along at home.
Hey Jonesy, how's that Kool-Aid coming? The gang's almost here...
dc
