If you read the Internet chatter, like I do, then you may have read something that sounds a bit disturbing in regards to Social Security, or rather something the administration has done.

In the middle of August, Social Security announced that it was purchasing 174,000 hollow-point, .357 caliber bullets. The admininstration then later said the bullets would be going to 295 agents in Social Security’s Office of the Inspector General, agents who investigate instances of fraud and other Social Security related crimes, investigate threats to and protect personnel. Each agent would receive about 590 bullets, and administration officials said most of the bullets would be expended on the firing range.

According to the Office of the Inspector General’s blog on the subject, which was an attempt to dispel any internet myths, these agents had powers similar to those of police officers, in that they could execute search warrants and make arrests.

However, there was a buzz over the internet that Social Security was preparing for unrest in the event of huge cuts or changes. There was also a buzz about the administration choosing hollow-point bullets, which not only stop when they hit an object, but according to an ABC News article about the subject, hollow-point bullets cause more tissue damage in the human body than other bullets because they expand on impact.

The reasoning behind the choice of ammo is that hollow-points are the preferred caliber of several law enforcement agencies.

Law enforcement officials in the field need ammunition, or a deterrent of some kind (lethal or non-lethal), after all there is always the possibility of a dangerous situation occuring (even though people pray things don’t). But if a good chunk of the bullets are projected to be used at the firing range, then doesn’t hollow-point bullets seem excessive for practice? The hollow-points should be used while out enforcing the law, and a different type should be used solely for shooting at the range.

But no matter what caliber or type of bullet a law enforcement agency procures, it only takes one shooting, accidental or intentional, and it becomes a nightmare. A nightmare not just for the parties involved in the shooting, but for the agency that has to investigate it and take action accordingly.