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Department of Education Purchasing 27 Shotguns

Posted by samzenpus on from the we've-phased-out-detentions dept.

hargrand writes "The US Department of Education (ED) intends to purchase twenty-seven shotguns with very specific criteria. According to the article they want: '(27) Remington brand model 870 police 12/14P mod GRWC XS4 KXCS SF. RAMAC #24587 gauge: 12 barrel: 14" - Parkerized choke: modified sights: ghost ring rear Wilson combat; front - XS Contour bead sight stock: Knoxx reduce recoil adjustable stock fore-end: speedfeed sport-solid - 14" LOP'. Place of delivery: US Department of Education Office of Inspector General, Chicago, IL.'" I'm surprised they didn't ask for them to be sent to Knoxx first to be fitted with Sidewinder Tactical 10-round drums.

25 comments

  1. Shotgun Wedding by savethelecture · · Score: 1

    I think this is what they meant about marrying the old values of education with new methods to a complete "Education System Reform".
    ...well, brings to mind... "shotgun wedding".

    --
    -Neurosis should be taken out in sex instead of politics and IT.
  2. No better way... by RavenChild · · Score: 1

    to protect our children's education than a trusty old Remington.

    1. Re:No better way... by flyneye · · Score: 0

      I emailed a contact on the page demanding an explanation. We'll see how that turns out. Probably won't hear back till Monday at the earliest, if at all.

      --
      *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
    2. Re:No better way... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      to teach them that the Constitution is just a piece of paper - with the exception of the Second Ammendment which is a God-given right.

  3. What's with the snarky comment? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't get the need for the comment about the 10-round drums. Also it should be noted those are no longer in production so obtaining them directly from Blackhawk/Knoxx would not be possible. On another note those don't lend to the portability and maneuverability of the weapon so would be oxymoronic when coupled with collapsible stocks and short barrels. This tells me that whoever wrote the summary probably has never actually handled a shotgun.

    It is not uncommon either for orders like this to be so specific, the way government procurement works they usually have to take "Bids" and so saying they need "27 12ga Shotguns" could end them up with with 27 Ithaca Model 37's that are 30 years old, and they would have to accept them being the lowest bid.

    The Department of the Treasury or IRS also recently ordered nearly identical models so this really could be a blanket thing covering all government agencies which have a law enforcement division.

    Really do some research next time before you trod all over decisions you don't understand.

    1. Re:What's with the snarky comment? by Kell+Bengal · · Score: 1

      I think the attitude of the summary extends from the failure to imagine what possible use the department of education could possibly have for firearms. Can anyone clarify?

      --
      Scientists point out problems, engineers fix them
      altslashdot.org: The future of slashdot.
    2. Re:What's with the snarky comment? by CXI · · Score: 1

      I think the attitude of the summary extends from the failure to imagine what possible use the department of education could possibly have for firearms. Can anyone clarify?

      I believe I could imagine them possibly using them to shoot people. Perhaps because it's a federal agency with a law enforcement arm. This is the biggest non-story ever.

    3. Re:What's with the snarky comment? by Fnkmaster · · Score: 1

      I'd guess that it's either for security of Department of Education facilities (i.e. government offices in Washington DC) or for training exercises involving police and other security personnel that are run by the Department of Education (i.e. training for disaster preparedness, bomb threats, school shooters and things that are relevant to schools in the US).

    4. Re:What's with the snarky comment? by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I don't give the slightest damn what use the DoE might have for shotguns, since they completely deny them to anybody else. That's control-freak-ism and hypocrisy of the worst kind.

      "OH! Guns are the enemy! We must pass Federal laws against anybody having them within 400 yards of a shool! Except for us, of course!"

      I call bullshit.

    5. Re:What's with the snarky comment? by Stephenmg · · Score: 1

      Maybe they are taking the kids trap shooting?

    6. Re:What's with the snarky comment? by Nutria · · Score: 1

      "OH! Guns are the enemy! We must pass Federal laws blah blah blah

      How can anyone with more than 1/3 of a pea brain (a) write this, and (b) mod this Insightful when (1) the SCOTUS struck down the DC gun law and is poised to do the same in Chicago, and (2) the Obama administration shows no sign of trying to reenact the "assault" weapons ban?

      --
      "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
    7. Re:What's with the snarky comment? by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 1

      First, that is not quite what I wrote. I think you missed the point. Second, that has little to do with the Department of Education. Tell me: when have you seen a proposal to remove "gun free zones" around schools? When EVERY school shooting that has taken place in recent years, took place in a "gun free zone"? That is an in-your-face illustration of how such restrictive laws hurt only the law-abiding citizens. Someone who is planning to shoot someone else (in other words, a criminal) doesn't give a damn about the gun free zones. So what do they accomplish? So far, absolutely nothing.

      My remark was specifically about the hypocrisy of the Department of Education, endorsing things like "gun-free zones" while at the same time, it has a definite specification for, and appears to be stockpiling, assault-style shotguns. (Apologies for the use of "assault" in that sentence, as I am aware that technically it is a meaningless distinction. But it does give someone a very rough idea of what kind of firearms they were buying.)

      I have very little tolerance for hypocrites. Especially hypocrites of this caliber.

      This sums up my view of "gun-free" areas or other restrictions on firearms: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1u0Byq5Qis

    8. Re:What's with the snarky comment? by Nutria · · Score: 1

      I'm pro-2nd Amendment, and yes I think it's weird for the Ed Dept to buy shotguns. Weirder for them to be sent to the Inspector General's office.

      As for arsenal, well, that's too loaded (no pun intended) until we know how many they really have.

      Maybe the guns are for "site security" at federal buildings, kept under the desk near the metal detectors.

      I agree with you about the hypocrisy: if some (God knows there are enough idiots in those schools who turn into jelly at the mere thought of a gun...) teachers had been armed, many school shootings wouldn't have happened or would have been much less severe.

      --
      "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
    9. Re:What's with the snarky comment? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He, pro-gunner Nutria...

      I'm from Spain, an almost gun-free european country
      Do you want try to guess our gun-related children death tool last year? >ero!

      Do you want numbers from 2008?.... zero!

      I cannot recall any gun incident in schools.

      Less guns equals less death people by guns. Dot.

    10. Re:What's with the snarky comment? by unr3a1 · · Score: 1

      That's because you live in a nanny state where NO one has guns. Typically in European countries, not even the police have firearms. The problem is that your lives are decided for you by your governments, you also live in a very different culture than we do. So what "works" in your country doesn't necessarily work in ours. One of them being gun bans.

      When Washington D.C. had the general gun ban in effect, D.C. had some of the worst violent crime rate in the country. When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the ban unconstitutional and lifted it in 2005, crime rate in D.C. plummeted almost overnight.

      In OUR country, cities and states that make it easier for citizens to carry firearms have lower crime rates than those that try to restrict them more. This is America, not Europe and we hold true to certain values, one of them being gun rights.

      "Those who would give up essential liberties for a little temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security" - Benjamin Franklin

    11. Re:What's with the snarky comment? by flyneye · · Score: 2, Informative

      I emailed and asked for answers. Here's what I got back

      Thank you for your email to Holly Le. Ms. Lee forwarded your email to the Office of Inspector General for response. The Office of Inspector General is the law enforcement arm of the U.S. Department of Education and is responsible for the detection of waste, fraud, abuse, and other criminal activity involving Federal education funds, programs, and operations. As such, OIG operates with full statutory law enforcement authority, which includes conducting search warrants, making arrests, and carrying firearms. The acquisition of these firearms is necessary to replace older and mechanically malfunctioning firearms, and in compliance with Federal procurement requirements. For more information on OIG's law enforcement authority, please visit our Web site at: www.ed.gov/oig.
      The information is available on the front page of our site.

      Thank you again for your inquiry.

      Catherine Grant
      Public Affairs Liaison
      U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General
       

      --
      *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
    12. Re:What's with the snarky comment? by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 1

      I'm from Spain, an almost gun-free european country Do you want try to guess our gun-related children death tool last year? >ero!

      Do you want numbers from 2008?.... zero!

      I cannot recall any gun incident in schools.

      Less guns equals less death people by guns. Dot.

      Maybe where you are from. But to reinforce the other reply: in the United States, things don't work that way. So you can't just say it's cause - effect. There are many other factors involved.

      Again to reinforce that other reply: in the year after the restrictions on gun ownership were removed in the District of Columbia (Washington D.C.), gun-related crimes dropped 25%. That's 1/4 in one year. That's pretty impressive.

      Other areas in the United States have had the same experiences: The places with the harsher restrictions on gun ownership also tend to have the highest crime. In those areas where the restrictions were eased or removed, crime went down, not up.

      The only possible conclusion is that in the United States, more guns mean less crime, not more. It has been demonstrated time and time and time again.

      And by the way: despite what you might see on the news, the number of violent crimes (including shootings at schools) has been going steadily downward for well over 20 years now. And all the while, ownership of guns, as a percentage of households, has been going steadily up.

      Facts are facts.

    13. Re:What's with the snarky comment? by popeye44 · · Score: 1

      I'd mod you super informative.. but alas not a single mod point today :-]

      --
      Inane Comments are Generously Disregarded
  4. It's about time! by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

    It's good to see these folks finally seriously cracking down on the truancy problem!

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  5. WTF by sjames · · Score: 1

    From TFA:

    ...are designated as the only shotguns authorized for ED based on compatibility with ED existing shotgun inventory, certified armor and combat training and protocol, maintenance, and parts.

    WTF?!?

    Combat training?!?

    Apparently our schools are far worse hell holes than we imagined. No wonder the kids don't learn anything!

  6. Wrong Pictures by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    The picture above is for the standard Remington 870 Tactical models while the 870P is a police model. Also are they putting two different stocks on this thing since the "SPEEDFEED SPORT-SOLID - 14" LOP" is not a forend. Whoever wrote this synopsis had no idea what they were talking about.

  7. How else can you have a good re-enactment ... by timothy · · Score: 1

    ... of "Harrison Bergeron"?

    Read it: http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/harrison.html

    Read about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Bergeron

    timothy

    --
    jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
  8. US DOE Office of Inspector General, Chicago, IL by Vinegar+Joe · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's Chicago......what do you expect?

    --
    "The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
    1. Re:US DOE Office of Inspector General, Chicago, IL by meldex · · Score: 2, Funny

      A Tommy Gun of course.

  9. Brilliant! The advancement of education by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My great state has finally solved the Chicago P.S. shooting problem with a gun trade in..for another gun. Walk with me on this one, Chicago is having a problem with gangs bringing handguns to school and shooting one another, so the solution is to have them trade in a easily concealable pistol for a much harder to conceal shotgun and BAM! the problem is solved.