The Bureau of Reclamation isn’t saying much about why it’s buying 52,000 rounds of ammunition, claiming the lack of transparency is necessary to keep the “bad guys” in the dark.

“We want to limit the amount of information any bad guys might have about our protection capabilities,” Rose Davis, a Bureau of Reclamation spokeswoman, tells the Las Vegas Sun.

The paper reports the agency solicited bids last month for 41,600 rounds of hollow-point ammunition along with 10,400 rounds of shotgun ammunition.

The Bureau also wouldn’t discuss how many officers work at the dam, nor how many threats it faces each year.

U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV) “vowed to inquire with the bureau about its operations, number of officers carrying firearms and how much ammunition it uses,” according to the Sun.

The bureau’s officers are “there for the protection of employees, visitors and the dam,” Davis says, adding they work in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security, Metro Police and other law enforcement officials.

It’s just the latest ammunition purchase by a federal agency that’s raising eyebrows.

Last year, the U.S. Postal Service sought bids for a large acquisition, as well.

“The United States Postal Service intends to solicit proposals for assorted small arms ammunition. If your organization wishes to participate, you must pre-register. This message is only a notification of our intent to solicit proposals,” the agency’s website read in April 2014, Newsmax reported.

Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Washington-based Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, told the news site: “We’re seeing a highly unusual amount of ammunition being bought by the federal agencies over a fairly short period of time. To be honest, I don’t understand why the federal government is buying so much at this time.”

The year before, the Social Security Administration put in a request for 174,000 rounds of “.357 Sig 125 grain bonded jacketed hollow-point” bullets, according to Newsmax.

Even the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also requested 46,000 rounds.

But as to the legitimacy of the purchase or how long it’s supposed to last is unclear. After all, the agencies are lumping skeptical taxpayers in with the “bad guys” by not disclosing much.