A pointless hollow point

A friend sent me a link to yet another conspiracy-mongering InfoWars article linked by Drudge, claiming that the purchase of 174,000 hollow point bullets by the Social Security Administration constitutes an ominous preparation for “unrest.”

Social Security Administration To Purchase 174 Thousand Rounds Of Hollow Point Bullets

Preparing for civil unrest? Ammunition to be delivered to 41 locations across U.S.

First it was the Department of Homeland Security, then it was the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and now the Social Security Administration is set to purchase 174,000 rounds of hollow point bullets that will be delivered to 41 locations across the country.

So I checked the government link provided:

There are 41 locations, and each one is getting a few thousand rounds of .357 “duty carry” ammo.

Buying a few thousand rounds of ammo is standard for any police or security guards and they are supposed to practice, so it hardly seems unusual in any way. I have had to go to the SSA office several times in recent years over various hassles, and I have never failed to see well-armed security present. They need to be there. Anyone who seen the kind of riffraff types who visit SSA offices would understand why. Many of them are intoxicated and angry. I would not want to work in such a place if it didn’t have good security; who would?

The reason for the hollow point rounds (which Alex Jones is smart enough to know) is that they are much safer than regular bullets. A typical jacketed bullet (which is what nearly all non-hollow point are) will go through one person and keep going into another. They penetrate through walls and even car doors. A hollow-point round stays inside its target, as it flares out on impact and exhausts itself.

As I live in a crowded student neighborhood, my gun for home protection is loaded ONLY with hollow points. If — God forbid — I ever have to shoot, the bullet will not go through the wall and into a neighbor’s house, or through the burglar and into Coco or God-knows-who.

Every experienced shooter knows this. In fact, I think a case could be made that it would be negligent to use standard ammo for protection in any populated area.

Hell, it would have been more suspicious if they’d bought jacketed rounds.

Alex Jones is a very annoying conspiracy theorist and demagogue. I avoid his site, and I think it is shameful for Drudge to link InfoWars as often as he does. I’m not alone in wondering what is going on. The most likely explanation is that there’s money to be made stirring up the little people.

This is not to say the government might not actually preparing for civil unrest, but a standard ammo purchase means absolutely nothing.