Surging demand and skyrocketing prices have slowed the flow of
bullets to some police departments, forcing some to trim valuable
firearms training. Oklahoma City police canceled qualifying classes
for several different guns; Milwaukee reduced training for some
weapons by 30 percent.
Gilroy – Surging demand and skyrocketing prices have slowed the flow of bullets to some police departments, forcing some to trim valuable firearms training. Oklahoma City police canceled qualifying classes for several different guns; Milwaukee reduced training for some weapons by 30 percent.
Unlike other departments, Gilroy won’t cut back on training, said Sgt. Jim Gillio, the department spokesperson. But as bullet prices shoot higher, Gilroy police plan to fork over about 22 percent more cash for ammunition: an increase of $6,500 over the 2007-2008 budget.
To cover the costs, police will whittle the overall patrol budget, he said, under which ammunition falls. The $6,500 needed is a slim 1.3 percent slice of the money budgeted for patrol materials. Other departments across the country are paying more: In Arkansas, Fort Smith police now pay twice as much as they did last year for 500-round cases of .40-caliber ammunition, according to the Associated Press.
“We really don’t have a lot of choices,” Fort Smith Cpl. Mikeal Bates said. “In our profession, we have to have it.”
Santa Clara County Sheriff’s deputies haven’t felt the sting, said Sgt. Ed Wise, the department spokesman, because the county has already negotiated an ammunition contract with a San Diego company, setting a specific price. But delays have been frustrating: Some shipments scheduled to arrive in July didn’t show up until August, Wise said.
“Our issue hasn’t been the money,” he said, “so much as the availability.”
Reports of rising demand for military ammunition have fueled speculation that wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have caused ammunition shortages at home. But manufacturers said the supplies aren’t linked, and local law enforcement demands for ammunition have risen significantly as well. From July 2006 to June 2007, police ordered 40 percent more ammunition, said Brian Grace, a spokesperson for ATK Ammunition Systems, the nation’s largest supplier of commercial and military ammunition.
Dick Fairburn, a police academy program manager who addressed the issue in a recent PoliceOne.com column, said police are upping their training requirements in response to high-profile incidents such as the Columbine school shooting, the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and even the Beltway sniper case. Police want to practice more, he said, to prepare for the worst. That means using more and more bullets.
“Many departments came to the realization that we need to do more than we have been,” said Fairburn. “Long term, the shortages will work themselves out. Companies will gear up for more production. But the prices don’t look like they’ll come down.”
ATK expanded its production 30 percent last year – a major feat for ammunition producers, who require extreme precision to make bullets safe and reliable, Grace said. But the supply still hasn’t caught up to the expanding demand. Grace added that exploding metal prices, not supply issues, are to blame for expensive bullets. Analysts have tied the rising cost of copper to accelerating growth in China and strikes at South American mines.
“Two years ago we were paying about a buck a pound for copper,” said Grace. “Now we’re paying about $3 a pound.”
The prices haven’t gone unnoticed at firing ranges, either. Sales have slowed slightly at Markley’s Indoor Range and Gun in Watsonville, said co-owner Ward Schuyler. Over the past few months, bullets have bumped 20 to 30 percent in price.
“People are going to stores like Wal-Mart where it’s a little less expensive,” he said, “but the prices are catching up there, too.”
And for hunters and police alike, the new prices aren’t an aberration – they’re a new reality, said Fairburn.
“The days of cheap ammunition are gone,” he said.
