U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., says he believes open purchase orders from the Department of Homeland Security to buy over 1 billion rounds of ammunition are part of an "intentional" effort by the Obama administration to "dry up the market" for gun-owning citizens.

"We have in this country the Second Amendment that preserves the right to keep and bear arms," Inhofe told radio host Aaron Klein, "and the president doesn't believe in that."

Inhofe was a guest on "Aaron Klein Investigative Radio" on New York City's WABC station, talking about his Ammunition Management for More Obtainability – or AMMO – bill, which is designed to limit non-defense, armed federal agencies to pre-Obama levels of ammunition. The bill, S.843, has been referred to Senate committee, while a similar bill sponsored by Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., has been referred to House committee.

"President Obama has been doing everything he could to stop the private ownership of guns in America," Inhofe asserted. "Yet he's been voted down in a big way by a large majority, and so my feeling is that he's doing this to buy up [ammunition] so honest, law-abiding citizens here in the United States, like my son, can't even buy ammunition because government is purchasing so much."

The DHS has claimed it's simply creating bulk purchase orders to save money and that 80 percent of the ammunition is used for training purposes, but Inhofe isn't buying the explanation.

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"We had someone testify the other day the DHS has the 'right' – this is a bureaucrat who said this – they have the 'right' to buy as much as they want, and they're planning to buy 750 million rounds," Inhofe said. "That is more than three times the amount our soldiers are using for training to defend our nation."

"I believe it's intentional," Inhofe said of the ammunition shortages many private and local law enforcement purchasers are experiencing. "It's just another effort to restrict gun activity and ownership."

He added later, "This has never happened in this country before. We've never had government trying to take that much control at the expense of law-abiding citizens. And we're not going to let it happen."

To that end, Inhofe has proposed his AMMO bill, still without co-sponsors, in the U.S. Senate.

"It's designed to have the Government Accounting Office inventory not the Defense Department but all other departments that use weaponry," Inhofe said, "as to what they're doing in terms of the amount of ammunition they have bought to dry up the market for honest, law-abiding citizens."

The full interview with Inhofe, including some comments on immigration reform, can be heard below: