GAINESVILLE – The Hall County Commission is set to approve a request from the Sheriff’s Office to make a larger than usual purchase of ammunition.
Gun owners reading that opening line are probably nodding their collective heads right now, saying they understand, because there is a very evident shortage of ammunition available for sale in Hall County and across the country.
Business monitors such as Forbes, the Wall Street Journal and Reuters have recently run stories on the difficulty of finding ammunition as gun sales set records. The Federal Bureau of Investigation reports that background checks connected with the purchase of a gun are running at an all-time high.
And law enforcement agencies such as the Hall County Sheriff’s Office are not immune to the economics of supply and demand according to Assistant Hall County Manager Marty Nix. “The Sheriff’s Office is trying to be pro-active and get ahead of some of the ammunition issues that they have,” Nix said following Monday’s Hall County Commission work session.
“Even though they may not need it right now it’s a precautionary measure to take advantage of pricing,” Nix explained.
Sheriff’s Office Captain Kelly Edwards presented the purchase request to commissioners, saying, “It’s larger than the normal purchase for us but what we are trying to do is get in front of rising costs and demand.”
The county’s supplier, Gulf States Distributors in Montgomery, Alabama, sells to the general public as well as to police and sheriff departments, Edwards said. “They don’t just sell to government agencies or law enforcement, they sell to everybody, and they are constantly back-ordered and sold out.”
Nix said the bulk of the ammunition consumed by the county is used at the Hall County Sheriff’s Training Complex on Allen Creek Road. Nix said the intention of the larger-than-normal purchase brought to commissioners is, “…getting this stockpiled and ready for them to do their training throughout the winter.”
According to the $60,920 purchase order submitted to commissioners by the sheriff’s office, included in the order are cases of .45 caliber, 9mm, and 12-gauge shotgun ammunition.
The purchase request will be part of the consent agenda at Thursday evening’s county commission voting session.
