And Here I Thought I Was Being Frugal

Buying ammunition when it is on sale or even just before an announced (or unannounced due to current events) price hike to me just makes sense. It appeals to my innate sense of frugality.

It also, I am informed, now makes me and thousands of others like me guilty of “suspicious activity” that might “indicate pre-operational terrorist attack planning or criminal activity.”  This is from a joint Department of Homeland Security and FBI “Roll Call Release”.  The example given to justify calling this suspicious activity was the case of the Norwegian killer who murdered a number of children at a summer camp back in 2011.

(U//FOUO) Possession of large amounts of weapons, ammunition,
explosives, accelerants, or explosive precursor chemicals could indicate
pre-operational terrorist attack planning or criminal activity. 

Really?

They also referred to “military-grade weapons”. I guess that would mean my Swiss Schmidt-Rubin K-31 rifles as they are actual Swiss Army surplus not to mention my Garand and Springfield 1903A3.

Given I found this due to a story on Off Grid News I wondered if this was just some sort of “survivalist” paranoia with little documentation. No, it isn’t.

The DHS-FBI bulletin does include this disclaimer at the end:

(U//FOUO) Constitutional activities should not be reported in a SAR or
Information Sharing Environment (ISE) SAR absent articulable facts and
circumstances that support the source agency’s suspicion that the
behavior observed is not innocent, but rather reasonably indicative of
criminal activity associated with terrorism, including evidence of pre
operational planning related to terrorism. Race, ethnicity, national
origin, or religious affiliation should not be considered as factors
that create suspicion (although these factors may be used as specific
suspect descriptions).

 After all the hyperbole contained in Roll Call Release, one has to wonder just how many police departments in many areas will even notice the “constitutional activities” disclaimer.