Ammunition Shortage Means Advanced Planning for Police
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| Retha Colclasure |
| 9/4/2007 |
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| What used to take weeks, can now take months. Nationwide, police departments have said there`s an ammunition shortage, because of an increased demand for bullets because of the war in Iraq. Higher prices for copper, used in making bullets, could be another factor. Local police departments say it`s getting harder and harder to get the ammunition they need, but it`s not causing problems for them, at least not yet. Some departments say they can deal with the change with a little advance planning. The ammunition storage room in the Bismarck Police Department isn`t showing any signs of a shortage. Officers there are still able to do the training they need to. "The ammunition that our patrol officers primarily use is 40 caliber, that ammo you can probably get within two to three months, the major suppliers of duty ammunition are well behind which forced us to change our manufacturer to a regional distributor," said Lt. Mike Wardzinski with the Bismarck Police Department. The wait for ammunition depends on exactly what kind police are ordering. "The 223 rounds, which are basically rifle rounds, from our current supplier we`ve been told it could take up to a year before we`re going to be able to get it," said Lt. Paul Leingang with the Mandan Police Department. Those delays have meant a change in the training schedule for some departments. "We`ve been holding back a little bit on doing a lot of shooting because it`s been a little difficult to get the ammunition in. It`s out there, you just have to look for it, and when you can find it, it`s usually a six to seven month delay or something along those lines," said Lt. Bob Haas with West Dakota SWAT. Departments say they have to plan ahead. Most of the training is regularly scheduled, so as long as they order ammunition with enough time to spare, they said they don`t believe their should be any problems. "We know it`s coming up and we know what we need, so we just do it a little earlier than we used to," said Wardzinski. "We have enough rounds to do our job, we have enough ammunition on hand," Leingang said. It just comes down to balancing the amount of training with the supply of ammunition. Officers use a different kind of bullet for training than what they use in their weapons on patrol. Officers say it`s easier to get the training ammunition, because it`s reloaded. |
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