Why is the Government Stockpiling Ammo?

DHS Ammunition Purchases to be Reported:

On the other hand, some of the “purchases”, such as at least one Department of Homeland Security contract, appear to be simply multi-year IDIQ (Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity) contracts – meaning there is no commitment to actually purchase anything at this time.  The advantage of having such a contract in place is that the Government can move really fast and buy a whole lot of ammunition very quickly without the need for drawn-out contracting procedures.  But why would the Government be anticipating such a need?  And why are we talking about the need for a grand total of 1.2 billion rounds of hollow point ammunition for the Department of Homeland Security anyway?  Our military used only 70 million rounds of ammunition annually to wage the Iraq war!

The other agencies, Social Security and NOAA in particular, are purchasing about 600 rounds per special agent authorized to carry a weapon.  Most of these rounds are supposedly required to meet qualification and training standards.  Do the special agents use hollow point bullets for target practice, too?  Although 600 rounds seem a bit high to me, it’s at least plausible and insignificant compared to the Department of Homeland Security purchases.

According to the Washington Post, right after the federal government took over the student aid program, the Department of Education began to acquire tactical weapons like Remington’s 870 police 12-gauge shotgun.

Agencies like the Department of Education, the Social Security Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Internal Revenue Service continue to purchase large amounts of tactical weapons and ammunition to build up their law enforcement divisions.