If FBI moves to 9mm, what happens to the .40 cal Pistols?

The Smith & Wesson revolver was paid for by U.S. taxpayers.  It was a finely crafted piece of machinery that served its country of origin well.  It is legal to own in all 50 states, by nearly all citizens.  But the Clinton administration chose to pay additional tax dollars to reduce it to this sad pile of scrap.  The destruction likely occurred at Anniston Army Depot. 


The General Services Administration (GSA) has issued a solicitation from the FBI for a unrestricted number of 9mm pistols up to 85 million dollars worth.  From GSA:

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is issuing an unrestricted solicitation for various 9mm luger pistols and all associated replacement parts with the intent of making single award of a fixed price indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract. In accordance with FAR 2.101, Multi-Agency Contracts, this solicitation includes a provision authorizing other law enforcement agencies to utilize the contract on a case-by-case basis with prior approval. The anticipated period of performance consists of one (1) base year and nine (9) possible additional one-year options.

 It is worth noting that the offers are to be received in late January of 2016, so that receipt of the pistols will be either after, or at the very tail end of the Obama administration.

 The question is: What will the FBI and other federal agencies do with their extra .40 caliber pistols?  Most police agencies trade in their surplus pistols or sell them to dealer.  They then enter the usual channels of commerce and are sold just like new pistols, except they are known as law enforcement trade ins.  Some police departments have insisted on destroying these valuable assets as a politcial statement.  Eleven states have passed legislation to stop this wasteful practice.

In the past, most government small arms were sold to the public.  Millions of small arms were sold surplus as newer arms were adopted.  With the attack on the Second Amendment ramping up in the mid 1960's, many federal agencies stopped selling surplus firearms. It never competely stopped, but the Clinton administration was famous for destroying a hundred million or more dollars worth of surplus carbines, revolvers, target pistols, 1911A1 .45s, Garands, and even .22 trainer rifles and pistols.  From ar15.com:

In August 1993, a powerful machine nicknamed "Captain Crunch" was put into operation to grind up these hundreds of thousands of small arms. Defense Logistics Agency spokesman Larry Wilson said that the weapons are put on a conveyor belt that goes up perhaps 15 feet then the weapons drop into the metal canister. The metal canister ("Captain Crunch") has some "serious" teeth in it, and the "gun barrel goes in, and little pieces of metal come out," said Wilson. Simple, but effective, and no re-welds!

The demil process kicked into high gear after the August 1993 start-up. In a March 1994 interview, spokesman Larry Wilson said that "Captain Crunch" had ground up 307,000 firearms at a cost of a little more than $1,000,000.

Wilson gave a break-down of the guns destroyed as of March 1994 as follows: .45 caliber automatic pistols (110,000), M-14 rifles (50,000), M1 carbines (45,000), M1903A3 drill rifles (40,000), M1 Garands (30,000), M3 .45 "grease guns" (20,000), M1903 Springfields (6,000), and M12 .22 caliber target rifles (6,000). Wilson calculated it had cost $3.52 to destroy each weapon and the Material Command was destroying 3,000 guns per day.

What will happen to the surplus .40 caliber pistols of the FBI and other federal agencies?   Some may be offered to police departments as surplus.  The tendency of elite administrations since 1970 has been to wastefully destroy these assets.  Why should any administration worry about wasting a hundred million dollars when they gleefully go hundreds of billions into debt each year?

A responsible administration would see the folly of destroying these assets and would sell them as surplus, to add money to the public coffers and add smiles and value to millions of ciitzens.  It is the policy that served the country well from the 1800s through the 1960s.   American citizens might even regain a measure of faith in their government.

 ©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
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