http://local.lancasteronline.com/4/208780Cops worry: Will we run out of bullets?
More ammo going to soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan wars.
By AD CRABLE
Lancaster (PA) New Era
LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. - Local police departments could be sweating bullets soon over a nationwide ammunition shortage caused by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Lancaster County's five largest police departments and the countywide SWAT team say they have not had to cut back on firing range training or outfitting officers in the field.
But with stockpiles dwindling and order delays of up to nine months, supply officers say training could be scaled back after the first of the year if the situation doesn't improve.
... A shortage could result in (police) training without firing ammunition.... Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and soldiers in training in the United States are firing more than 1 billion bullets a year, according to one national report, and supplies of ammunition for handguns and rifles have not kept pace with the demand.
Also contributing to the shortage is increased police department firearms training in the wake of the events of Sept. 11, 2001. piraling demand for copper and lead — two main ingredients in bullets and their casings — in China and other countries also is a factor in the shortage. ...