DHS agencies to buy up to 7,000 new 5.56x45mm NATO personal defense weaponsMadison Ruppert, Contributor Unfortunately, the reason for both of these major purchases and the continuing heavy armament of DHS agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) continues to go unexplained. The newest weapons order which was originally posted on June 7, 2012 and has a response date of July 9, 2012 is for so-called personal defense weapons which would be used in close quarters combat situations when maximum concealment is required. I find that last part quite interesting, as requiring maximum concealment for a 5.56x45mm NATO weapon is not really a run-of-the-mill request. Each prospective vendor has been asked to provide to the DHS their weapons, which will be tested at the National Firearms and Tactical Training Unit (NFTTU) in Altoona, Pennsylvania, which is run by ICE. The DHS solicitation (PDF) says that each vendor is to provide, Only one specific nomenclature firearm for solicitation testing [to be] considered for contract award. The solicitation also specifies that the guns will be quite small for a rifle at a mere 30 inches or less with the stock fully extended and 20 inches or less with the stock fully retracted or folded. They also specify that the barrel must come equipped with a flash suppressor and/or muzzle brake, noting, The muzzle device will be rated on its ability to reduce muzzle signature. Furthermore, they state that every firearm will be tested with a whopping 4,000 rounds, meaning that 28,000 rounds will be spent just testing the firearms before they are put into service. If the guns pass that test, three samples will be tested with an additional 3,500 rounds per firearm while the guns will also be tested for resilience in high temperature, low temperature, salt water immersion, sand and dust and drop conditions. At the time of writing the contractors who have expressed interest are Ohio-based Ares, Inc., Florida-based Material Integration, Inc., and Virginia-based FNH USA, LLC. Unfortunately, the information we have on the actual reason behind these large procurements is non-existent. If we can take the DHSs history with the refusal to explain the reason why they need hundreds of millions of hollow point bullets, it is safe to say that they will likely thwart any attempt to get them to explain why they need these thousands of firearms as well. Personally, I find this quite sickening in a time when our national debt against which the American taxpayer is being used as collateral is rising to unimaginable heights. With the levels of debt we have right now and no cutbacks in government spending in sight, I seriously doubt that we will ever realistically be able to pay back these ludicrously massive sums of money. Yet the government continues to spend like theres no tomorrow between hundreds of millions of rounds of ammunition, thousands of new weapons and even hundreds of millions on drones we dont even use because they dont work (see below). Did I forget anything or miss any errors? Would you like to make me aware of a story or subject to cover? Or perhaps you want to bring your writing to a wider audience? Feel free to contact me at admin@EndtheLie.com with your concerns, tips, questions, original writings, insults or just about anything that may strike your fancy. Please support our work and help us start to pay contributors by doing your shopping through our Amazon link or check out some must-have products at our store. Please support our work and help us start to pay contributors by doing your shopping through our Amazon link or check out some must-have products at our store. This article first appeared at End the Lie. linkwithin_text=Related Articles: 