Another Day, Another Military Purchase By Local Police. What Does Local Government Need With A Helicopter With Such Lethal Capabilities?

See What this State Just Bought to “Police” Its Citizens

Residents in Indiana can expect to see military grade helicopters keeping tabs on them from up high in the sky.

That’s because Indiana has just purchased two UH-72 Lakota helicopters, which will be used for domestic police use, search and rescue, as well as for “homeland security.”

The Lakota is one of the world’s most sophisticated helicopters, so it’s not entirely clear why the police in Indiana would need a military grade helicopter.

The Lakota is well-known for its maneuverability, its power, and its ability to detect small weapons and objects (such as license plates) from a significant distance… all while avoiding detection. Here’s a video that advertises its capabilities…

Right now the Lakota is being used by Homeland Security at the Mexican border in an attempt to track and curb rampant drug trafficking and to secure the nation’s border.

But the narrative for why the Lakota is being used in middle America doesn’t quite fit.

As many pro-freedom and pro-liberty groups have noted, the government seems to be gearing up to eliminate any form of resistance, even if it’s just online banter.

The sweeping data-collection, the massive collection of armored vehicles, ammunition buy-ups, along with the use of more force by federal authorities shows the government isn’t about to let power slip away anytime soon.

And all of this is happening in plain sight.

Now it looks like the purchase of these helicopters might just be another means for the state to bolster its armaments so they’ll be ready when the time comes to use them.

As Infowars relayed:

“Former Marine Corps Colonel Peter Martino, who was stationed in Fallujah and trained Iraqi soldiers, warned last year that the Department of Homeland Security is working with law enforcement to build a ‘domestic army,’ because the federal government is afraid of its own citizens.

Martino was speaking at a council meeting concerning a decision to purchase a BearCat armored vehicle. The purchase of the vehicle was surrounded by controversy after the city’s Police Chief wrote in an application filing to the DHS that the vehicle was needed to deal with the ‘threat’ posed by libertarians, sovereign citizen adherents, and Occupy activists in the region.”

Police are supposed to “serve and protect” the people living in their jurisdictions, but it seems this is no longer the true purpose of many police.

Rather, their purpose seems to have evolved to oppress citizens and “keep people in line.” Seen in this light, the purchase of the Lakota choppers makes perfect sense.

More Government Gun Purchases--This Time It Is The USDA And They Want Submachine Guns!

USDA Looking To Buy Submachine Guns

Saturday, 17 May 2014 02:12 PM

By Sandy Fitzgerald

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeking to buy submachine guns — but isn't saying why it needs them.

According to a solicitation filed on May 7, the department has a detailed list of specifications for its "commercial acquisition of submachine guns."

The department is seeking .40 caliber submachine guns complete with flashlights, optics, burst fire capability, and 30-round magazines.

The guns, the department says, should have an "semi-automatic or 2 shot burst trigger group, Tritium night sights for front and rear, rails for attachment of flashlight (front under fore grip) and scope (top rear), stock-collapsible or folding, magazine - 30 rd. capacity, sling, lightweight, and oversized trigger guard for gloved operation."

There are no solicitation documents for the gun buy, but "responsible and/or interested sources may submit their company name, point of contact, and telephone," and if the information is received in a timely manner, the sellers will be considered by the agency to contact and determine "weapon suitability."

Dan Cannon, a writer for the blog Guns Save Lives, notes that the U.S. Forest Service and its law enforcement division are under the USDA's control, and could be a likely place for the firearms to be used.

The two contacts on the solicitation document, Linda Josey, chief of the USDA's Procurement Management branch and Desiree Clayton, USDA Contracting Officer, could not be immediately reached Saturday for comment on the order.

The USDA isn't the only federal agency to seek weapons or ammunition in recent months.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Postal Service joined the list of federal agencies seeking to purchase what some Second Amendment activists say are alarmingly large quantities of ammunition.

The Postal Service listed a notice on its website, under the heading "Assorted Small Arms Ammunition," that said: "The United States Postal Service intends to solicit proposals for assorted small arms ammunition. If your organization wishes to participate, you must pre-register. This message is only a notification of our intent to solicit proposals."

Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Washington-based Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, said in April that his organization is seeing a highly unusual amount of ammunition being bought by the federal agencies over a fairly short period of time. To be honest, I don't understand why the federal government is buying so much at this time."

A little more than a year ago, the Social Security Administration put in a request for 174,000 rounds of ".357 Sig 125 grain bonded jacketed hollow-point" bullets, shortly after the USDA requested 320,000 rounds.

And more recently, the Department of Homeland Security requested 450 million rounds — around the same time the FBI sought 100 million hollow-point rounds.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees the National Weather Service, has also requested 46,000 rounds.

Related Stories:

• Homeland Security's Ammo Purchases Lead to Police Shortages
• EPA Rules Force Closure of Last Ammo Maker

© 2014 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Militarized Government Agencies Predicted By Ron Paul Seventeen Years Ago.

17 Years Ago Ron Paul Predicted the BLM Would Do This

One thing Ron Paul has been well known for is his distinct ability to predict how public policy would shape the look of the United States years down the road.

Which is exactly why his warning that arming U.S. bureaucrats would create a slippery slope for American citizens is now coming to light after the recent interaction between Cliven Bundy and the BLM.

In 1997, Paul proclaimed that the increased armament of federal officials would begin to create a state of affairs where militarized officials would begin to present a clear and present danger to U.S. citizens on a regular basis.

In a speech before the US House, Paul said:

It’s “ironic that the proliferation of guns in the hands of the bureaucrats is pushed by the anti-gun fanatics who hate the Second Amendment and would disarm every law-abiding American citizen.”

“Yes, we need gun control. We need to disarm our bureaucrats, then abolish the agencies. If government bureaucrats like guns that much, let them seek work with the NRA.”

“Force and intimidation are the tools of tyrants. Intimidation with government guns, the threat of imprisonment, and the fear of harassment by government agents puts fear into the hearts of millions of Americans.”

And as the events that took place on Bundy ranch have adequately proven, the time where the U.S. government has begun to overstep its boundaries is upon us.

Just weeks ago BLM employees harassed U.S. citizens at gunpoint…executed privately owned livestock…and threatened the seizure of legally held land at the tip of automatic machine guns.

This kind of fallout was certainly on Paul’s mind 17 years ago when he made these predictions and commented that,

“Under the Constitution, there was never meant to be a federal police force… Even an FBI limited only to investigations was not accepted until this century. Yet today, fueled by the federal government’s misdirected war on drugs, radical environmentalism, and the aggressive behavior of the nanny state, we have witnessed the massive buildup of a virtual army of armed regulators prowling the states where they have no legal authority.”

The truth is such use of force was never meant to be a part of reasonable relations between citizens and government officials.

However, with increasing frequency, it’s exactly what continues to play out right before our eyes.

Gun Purchases By Government Departments Getting Outrageous!

Watchdog: Depth Of Federal Arms Race Should Surprise, Shock Citizenry

April 3, 2014 by Watchdog.org 

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This article, written by Rob Nikolewski, was originally published by New Mexico Watchdog on April 3.

SANTA FE, N.M. — In late February, four Federal agents carrying side arms with a drug-sniffing dog descended on the Taos Ski Valley in what was called a “saturation patrol.”

Authorities were working on tips of possible drug selling and impaired driving in the ski resort’s parking lot and surrounding area.

But the agents weren’t from the FBI, ATF or even the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Rather, the agents represented the U.S. Forest Service.

“It’s one of the untold stories about government,” said former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, who lives in Taos, is an avid skier and has been a leading critic of the operation that turned up only a few minor infractions. “People don’t grasp the size and the scope of these entities and their law enforcement arms.”

It may come as a surprise to many U.S. taxpayers, but a slew of Federal agencies — some  whose responsibilities seem to have little to do with combating crime — carry active law enforcement operations.

Here’s a partial list:

• The U.S. Department of Education
• The Bureau of Land Management (200 uniformed law enforcement rangers and 70 special agents)
• The U.S. Department of the Interior
• The U.S. Postal Inspection Service (with an armed uniformed division of 1.000)
• The National Park Service (made up of NPS protection park rangers and U.S. Park Police officers that operate independently)
• The Environmental Protection Agency (200 special agents)
• The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (224 special agents)
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

That’s right, NOAA — the folks who forecast the weather, monitor the atmosphere and keep tabs on the oceans and waterways — has its own law enforcement division. It has a budget of $65 million and consists of 191 employees, including 96 special agents and 28 enforcement officers who carry weapons.

“There’s no question there’s been a proliferation of police units at the federal level,” said Tim Lynch, director of the Project On Criminal Justice for the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank based in Washington, D.C. “To me, it’s been a never-ending expansion, a natural progression, if you will, of these administrative agencies always asking for bigger budgets and a little bit more power.”

It’s been estimated the U.S. has some 25,000 sworn law enforcement officers in departments not traditionally associated with fighting crime. According to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, and in a tabulation compiled by the Wall Street Journal in 2011, 3,812 criminal investigators are working in areas other than the U.S. departments of Treasury, Justice, Defense and Homeland Security.

Lynch says it’s hard to tell how much money Federal agencies spend on their respective law enforcement divisions.

“We need a fuller accounting of exactly how many police units have proliferated in the federal government and how much it’s costing taxpayers,” said Lynch, who said he would like to see members of Congress ask agency officials direct questions about budget and staffing.

The Wall Street Journal reported that, in 2008, agents armed with assault rifles from NOAA, along with officers from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, raided a businesswoman’s offices in Miami looking into charges that she was violating the Endangered Species Act by trading in coral.

“I felt like I was being busted for drugs, instead of coral,” Morgan Mok said afterward. “It was crazy.”

Mok said she obtained the coral legally and eventually paid a $500 fine and served a year’s probation for failing to complete the proper paperwork.

Why is a law enforcement arm necessary at NOAA?

“NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement protects marine wildlife and habitat by enforcing domestic laws and international treaty requirements designed to ensure these global resources are available for future generations,” NOAA spokesman David Miller said in an email to New Mexico Watchdog, pointing out that the division has existed since 1970. “Our special agents and enforcement officers ensure compliance with the nation’s marine resource laws and take enforcement action when these laws are violated.”

As for the U.S. Forest Service, Special Agent Robin Poague defended the use of the agency’s law enforcement officers — called LEOs — in the Taos operation that resulted in harsh criticism from many residents.

“Rangers were armed when the Forest Service started 100 years ago,” Poague said. “We have a long history of law enforcement.”

Portions of the Taos Ski Valley sit on Federal land. If there were suspicions of drug activity leading to the operation in February, why not use the DEA instead?

“U.S. Forest Service land is our primary responsibility, it’s not the DEA’s,” Poague told New Mexico Watchdog by telephone from his office in Albuquerque.

A Forest Service recruitment video says the agency employs about 700 law enforcement personnel. Poague said the service’s law enforcement division was created in 1994.

But many other Federal agencies established their own after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

In the aftermath of the attacks, the FBI shifted its attention to tackling terrorism, and Congress gave permanent powers to inspectors general in more than two dozen agencies.

By last count, 25 agencies with law enforcement divisions fall under their respective offices of inspectors general.

With their growth has come criticism that officers are becoming overly militarized.

“The whole notion of police operations these days, that they’re dressed to kill, that they’re up against an enemy, is wrong,” Johnson said. “Citizens are not the enemy.”

In 2010, the Department of Education defended its purchase of 27 12-gauge shotguns to replace old firearms used by its Office of Inspector General, the law enforcement arm of the department. DoE said the guns were necessary to help combat “waste, fraud, abuse, and other criminal activity involving Federal education funds, programs and operations.”

A year later, DoE Office of Inspector General special agents raided a California home at 6 a.m. to apprehend a man the department said was involved in criminal activity. DoE officials did not say why the raid was conducted, releasing a statement that said, “the office conducts raids on issues such as bribery, fraud, and embezzlement of federal student aid funds.”

“In these cases, it causes you to think, is this agency really necessary, is this unit really necessary,” Lynch said.

In an email to New Mexico Watchdog, a spokeswoman for the DoE Office of Inspector General — the department’s law enforcement arm — reported it has a staff of 260 members, 90 of which are criminal investigators. Its budget is $57.7 million for fiscal 2014.

Defenders of the agencies say armed law enforcement provides a deterrent and that agents need to be armed to protect themselves against potentially dangerous criminals.

In fact, just last month a Forest Service ranger in North Carolina was shot and killed by a murder suspect, who also killed a police dog. On Jan. 1, 2012, a National Park ranger was shot and killed at Mount Rainier, in Washington state.

DHS Buys Ammo, Armored Vehicles and Now Assault Weapons

The American government  thinks that we are stupid country bumpkins who are only interested in  our "guns and bibles" as they go about assembling an arsenal of guns and ammo along with vehicles that are made for war.  My friends, this is very scary.

Only when a government is afraid of its citizens does it arm itself to resist the efforts of the populace to protect their rights. We have seen this in Egypt, Libya, Syria and now here in the good ole' USA. 

It would not be irresponsible to assert that there is something wrong here in America. There are too many warning signals that cannot be dismissed. We have a department of government on a buying spree without regard to  current economic doldrums and no one  calls them on it. It makes one ask a simple question. "What in the heck is going on?

Yesterday, our chief law enforcement officer, Attorney General Holder,  had to be badgered by Senators to admit that an American sitting in a cafe drinking coffee does not present a clear and present danger and therefore should not be killed in a drone attack. He had to be asked four or five times to make that admission. Most Americans would think it was a no-brainer. Why would he hesitate?

As a reminder, this is the same Attorney General who found nothing wrong with the Fast and Furious Operation which forced law abiding gun dealers to sell illegal weapons to Mexican drug lords.  One of our border guards paid with his life for the government's malfeasance.

This is an Administration that professes to be open and is one of the most secretive; who gives money to their friends without regard to the viability of their enterprises; who says they want to protect us by taking away our guns; who takes over private companies in order "to save them"; who says they support our strongest allies while cozying up to our enemies; and who has shown their lack of fiscal honesty by forcing agencies to make "things hard on the public" while doling out millions to Egypt. In addition, we see them building a domestic army out of the Department of Homeland Services.  There is something wrong in River City and it is not pool!

Something is about to happen and unfortunately, it probably will occur this summer. The pieces are coming together for the Administration and all they need is the precipitating event. What might occur is all conjecture, however, it will be frightening and large (like the Reichtag Fire in Germany) which will make Americans plead for the leadership to take control. (We are always looking for Daddy to take care of our problems, right!) At that point, the strands will be pulled together to make a terrible rug. It will come clear why the government was buying the guns, ammo and armored vehicles; why they were de-sensitizing us to drone strikes; and why they were marginalizing Congress and expanding Presidential power. It will happen whether it is this summer or next, but we are very close.

Conservative Tom

DHS buys 7000 full-auto assault rifles, calls them ‘personal defense weapons’

Mike AdamsNatural News
Jan 28, 2013

In yet another huge blow to the rhetoric and narrative of the Obama administration and its desire to disarm the American public, a DHS bid has been uncovered (see documents below) showing that the Department of Homeland Security recently put out an offer to purchase 7,000 full-auto “assault weapons” to be used domestically, inside the USA.

Keep in mind that President Obama is on the record saying, “AK-47s belong in the hands of soldiers, not in the hands of criminals; that they belong on the battlefield of war, not on the streets of our cities.”

But it seems he really means they don’t belong on the streets of our cities unless they are in the hands of homeland security enforcers, in which case they can be FULL-AUTO assault weapons.

The DHS bid for 7,000 full-auto assault weapons is found by clicking here. The original credit for discovering this goes, to my best knowledge, to Awr Hawkins at Breitbart.com.

In the hands of the government, they’re called “Personal Defense Weapons”

The juiciest part of this bid is the use of the phrase “Personal Defense Weapons” to describe the full-auto AR-15s being purchased by DHS.

Apparently, when YOU hold an AR-15, it’s an “assault rifle.” But magically, if you hand that same rifle to an armed government homeland security enforcer, it instantly transforms itself into a “personal defense weapon.”

• A D V E R T I S E M E N T

The request for bid actually says:

DHS and its components have a requirement for a 5.56x45mm NATO, select-fire firearm suitable for personal defense use in close quarters and / or when maximum concealment is required.

So there it is, right in black and white: DHS enforcers need full-auto AR-15s which are “suitable for personal defense in close quarters” and for “maximum concealment.”

But if you or I make the same claim, suddenly we are branded lunatics by the fringe left and all the gun grabbers across America who apparently have no clue that their own government is arming up like never before.

Senator Feinstein, the gun-grabbing Senator from California, says she wants to take all the guns from all Americans. “Mr. and Mrs. America, turn ‘em all in,” she says on the record. But while Mr. and Mrs. America are turning in their guns, ‘roid-head DHS goons are arming to the teeth with full-auto assault rifles.

This is all on top of the 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition the U.S. government has already stockpiled, as was discovered last year. What kind of government wants to domestically stockpile ammo and full-auto weapons, putting them in the hands of domestic agents who have nothing whatsoever to do with overseas wars? Well, the kind of government that plans to NEED 1.6 billion rounds of ammo and full-auto assault weapons, of course.

Read some language from the contract bid: Pistol grips, full-auto and more

Click here to see the bid.

Here’s some selected text from the bid:

ICE/Mission Support-DC
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Office of Acquisition Management
801 I Street NW, Suite 980
Washington DC 20536

Troy Teachey, troy.teachey@dhs.gov

Delivery Location Code: ICE/AS/NFTTU
ICE Natl Firearm Tactical Trng Unit
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
500 12th ST SW, Washington DC 20536

5.56X45mm NATO Personal Defense Weapon

During the base period and four option periods of this contract the maximum ceiling is $9,800,000.

Click here for the PDF document containing the following text:

The scope of this contract is to provide a total of up to 7,000 5.56x45mm North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) personal defense weapons (PDW) throughout the life of this contract to numerous Department of Homeland Security components.

The action shall be select-fire (capable of semi-automatic and automatic fire).

The action shall be capable of accepting all standard NATO STANAG 20 and 30 round M16 magazines (NSN 1005-00-921-5004) and Magpul 30 round PMAG (NSN 1005-01-576-5159). The magazine shall have a capacity to hold thirty (30) 5.56x45mm NATO rounds.

The receiver top shall be equipped with an integral MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail for mounting sights and other accessories.

The fire control selector shall have three positions; safe, semi-automatic, and automatic.

The pistol grip shall be a fixed, vertical pistol grip constructed of a durable material.

DHS admits AR-15 with 30-round magazine is “suitable for personal defense use in close quarters”

This government document openly admits that AR-15s with 30-round magazines and capable of fully automatic fire are “suitable for personal defense” in close quarters (i.e. your home).

CNN, of course, doesn’t want you to ever hear that. Nor does Feinstein, Cuomo, Schumer, Obama, Eric Holder or any other gun grabbers. Even while their own government is arming up with 1.6 billion rounds of ammo and 7,000 full-auto “assault rifles” (plus lots more in other bids), they are trying to completely disarm the American citizenry through new gun registration and confiscation legislation.

The whole point of all this, of course, is to create firepower disparity between the government and the citizenry… To disarm the People while arming up the government agents who operate domestically. That way, the people can be forced at gunpoint into doing almost anything the oppressive government demands! (Taking vaccine shots, giving up private property, turning over farms and businesses, etc.)

What’s really hard-hitting about this is that the radical left keeps claiming things like “no one needs an assault rifle for personal defense.” Okay, if that true, then the Department of Homeland Security should abandon all such rifles first! Let’s see DHS turn in all its rifles and ammo, thereby setting an example of the “fact” that “nobody needs an assault rifle” for self defense.

In truth, a full-auto AR-15 is an outstanding weapon for self defense, which is exactly why DHS is buying thousands of them. Nothing stops bad guys faster than a barrage of high-velocity lead aimed in their direction. Again, that’s why DHS wants these rifles in the first place. One of these rifles in the hands of a citizen could have stopped the Sandy Hook shooting in seconds.

Pay attention to the word games (which are really mind games)

As you observe the highly manipulated gun control argument, pay special attention to the word games you’re being subjected to:

An AR-15 in the hands of a citizen is an “assault rifle.”
But an AR-15 in the hands of a DHS agent is a “Personal Defense Weapon.”

A full-auto-capable rifle in the hands of a citizen is called a “machine gun.”
A full-auto-capable rifle in the hands of a DHS agent is called a “select-fire rifle.”

According to the media, all government agents with assault rifles are presumed innocent and assumed to be stopping crime.

But all private citizens with assault rifles are presumed guilty and assumed to be causing crime.

When one citizen goes crazy and murders a bunch of people, the call goes out for ALL citizens to be stripped of their firearms.

But when one government agent goes crazy and murders a bunch of people, the calls goes out for MORE guns to be placed in the hands of MORE government agents!

Thank you, DHS, for admitting the truth

In summary, it looks like we actually need to thank the DHS for admitting the truth that Obama won’t: AR-15s are personal defense weapons, suitable for use in close quarters, especially when equipped with 30-round magazines.

That’s why I own one, and it’s why DHS wants thousands more (but theirs are full-auto, while mine is only semi-auto).

As a general rule, all freedom-loving Americans should want the same firepower their domestic government possesses. That’s the whole point behind the Second Amendment, and it represents the distribution of power in a free society.

But instead of firepower being equal in America today, DHS is using our taxpayer dollars to purchase thousands of full-auto weapons for their own agents. This is apparently being done under ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).

This brings up the question for another entire article, and here’s the question: Why does immigration need 7,000 full-auto assault rifles? Is there a friggin’ Mexican invasion planned that nobody told me about? Is ICE going to invade Mexico and start a shooting war with the Mexican drug cartels?

Seriously: Why does ICE need 7,000 full-auto assault rifles? And why does DHS need 1.6 billion rounds of ammo?