Police Ammo Delays: Thanks to the War?

We all remember that bloody shootout between police and two would-be bank robbers in North Hollywood ten years ago. The robbers had shown up to play with full body armor and rifles whereas the cops had the standard issue pistols and shotguns - standard but in this case inadequate. The long standoff resulted in 14 dead - the two robbers and 12 policemen. The tipping point in the battle was when the police borrowed - yes, borrowed - some rifles from a local gun shop!

Since then police departments across the country have been adapting and upgrading their firepower to at least match what they might encounter on the streets. Now may policemen carry rifles loaded with hollow point bullets. Those hollow points are expensive and are reserved only for on-duty use. Training is carried out with standard bullets and, as it turns out, the same bullets used by the US military.

As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan drag on with no sign of letting up any time soon, the military's demand on the supply of bullets has caused sever shortages, shipping delays, and price increases. According to a recent article by Richard Brooks with The Press-Enterprise, some departments have seen their costs double and the delays stretch out for months. And this price increase hasn't been restricted to rifle ammo; pistol bullets have seen the same cost and delay problems over the last five years.