Police dealing with ammunition shortage

Rollingwood, Texas (KXAN) - The City of Rollingwood is a very unique city.  Only 1,500 people live in the one square mile city limit that sits just down the street from Zilker Park and Downtown Austin. This enclave has its own mayor, city council and an eight-man police department.

Many people live in Rollingwood for the peace, quiet and easy access to the city, but the mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut was a reminder that bad things can happen anywhere.

So, the mayor wanted the police department to stock up on automatic weapons and ammunition.

"We don't have any schools within the city limits of Rollingwood, but there are schools within a mile radius of us and five schools within 2 miles," said Chief Dayne Pryor. "Being that we're so close, there is a good chance we will be the first in, so we have always taken the threats seriously."

But when Chief Pryor put in an order for new equipment, he faced an unexpected road block.  With many people worried about future gun laws, supply is in demand.

"We started making phone calls and realized there is a waiting list up to a year," said Pryor.

Bigger police departments, like the Austin Police Department and Travis County Sheriff's Office, don't have a problem ordering guns and ammunition.

"Some of your larger departments have contracts with distributors, and they'll make very large orders, years in advanced," explains Pryor.

Since their gun pantry is on the thin side, the Rollingwood officers are making sure they use their bullets wisely.

"We have to limit the amount of times we go and train because we want to keep an adequate stock," said Pryor.

The department said that if anything happened right now, they are prepared, but they are extending their search for distributors, hoping to find one soon who can fill their order.

How other law enforcement agencies in Central Texas are doing

• Kyle PD: Adequate ammunition supply at the present time. They have a pending order for ammunition (from Dec. 2012) that is expected to arrive in February, which is consistent with previous orders. We do not have any pending weapons orders at this time.
• T ravis County Sheriff's Office: Adequate ammunition supply. They preordered their ammo for 2013 last year and expect to start the process of looking at 2014 soon.
• Buda PD: They are experiencing some delay in getting ammunition, however, they do not think that they will have to adjust their training. They haven't ordered any weapons nor have they had the need to over the last quarter.
• Round Rock PD: They are using their ammunition more cautiously. However their officers' training is not being sacrificed.
• Pflugerville PD: They have plenty of ammunition supply right now and are planning into 2014. They are not anticipating an ammunition issue and have a current order being processed.