No the ammo prices are high because two dudes stole 8 tons of copper!
Ex-ammo plant workers ordered to prison for copper theft
By MARK MORRIS
The Kansas City Star
A federal judge sentenced two men to prison Thursday for stealing more than 8 tons of copper from an Independence ammunition plant.
In separate hearings, Charles Dale Osborn, 46, of Odessa, Mo., and Timothy Duane Langevin, 36, of Independence were sentenced to three years and to two years, respectively, after pleading guilty in August to conspiracy to commit sabotage.
The case was more like theft than an effort to interfere with the nation’s war effort, U.S. District Judge Howard Sachs said at Langevin’s hearing.
“This is one step worse than theft of government property, but several steps less serious than one thinks of as a sabotage case,” Sachs said.
Both men were employed by the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant and knew the copper was to be used for making more than a million rounds of small-arms ammunition. Consequently, lawyers concluded, the sabotage law applied.
According to prosecutors, Osborn began stealing copper “bullet cups” — used to manufacture copper-jacketed 7.72 mm bullets — in late September.
Langevin soon discovered the thefts and joined the scheme.
