Pistol packin' government weather forecasters?

NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is looking to buy 46,000 rounds of law enforcement style pistol ammo.

Photo: NOAA Office of Law Enforcement

Well, it looks like the Washington Post is helping back this down a little bit. Apparently who ever put out the bid at NOAA should have specified its Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement branch.

And if 46,000 rounds sounds like a big ol' batch of pistol rounds for an obscure government agency that employs around 180 sworn officers and special agents consider that the buy would break down to about 255 rounds per officer or agent.

The NOAA buy is small potatoes compared to the Department of Homeland Security's solicitation for up to 450 million rounds of .40 caliber pistol ammo and another 200 million rifle rounds over the next five years. The Department of the Interior also sought new stockpiles totaling 180,000 rounds in various calibers earlier this year, again tiny compared to the DHS request.

Bottom line, I can kinda figure out where NOAA or the Department of the Interior might use the ammo they're acquiring in training or field use. In a way, their relatively limited orders only make Homeland Security's ammo appetite seem all the more obscene.