Canadian police face ammo shortage due to U.S. military demand

Canadian police officers may have to use their bullets sparingly, as U.S. military involvement in conflicts abroad is contributing to a worldwide ammunition shortage.

While the chief distributor of ammo to Canadian law enforcement agencies is based in Canada, its stock is imported from manufacturers in the United States. Those manufacturers give priority to bulging orders from the U.S. armed forces, which are actively engaged in conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As a result, supplies of certain ammunition rounds in Canada are getting tighter, the Canadian distributor told the Canwest news service Thursday.

"I've been advised not to give quotes of any less than a year" for shipments, Bob Nicholls, president of R. Nicholls Distributors Inc. in Quebec, said in an interview.

Some varieties of Glock handguns are delayed six months, Nicholls said, while ammunition commonly used by SWAT teams can be expected to arrive nine months after an order has been placed, Canwest reported.