Utah Guard shuts down mechanical bull shutdown story

Image via Mechanical Bull Sales

Reports that the Utah National Guard were in the market for two mechanical bulls in spite of the the partial government shut down have turned out to be, well, bull.

A Utah National Guard and the alleged vendor say they cancelled a $47,174 sale.

“The National Guard called me first thing in the morning,” Mechanical Bull Sales owner Gracienne Myers told The Salt Lake Tribune. She said the Guard told her that they were voiding the purchase offer but that they may buy a lone bull in the future.

“They did the right thing,” she said.

The Utah Guard has used two climbing walls and two mechanical bulls as “conversation-starters” for recruitment at various events, the Utah National Guard’s Lt. Col. Hank McIntire told the newspaper.

After one bull broke earlier this year, the Guard contacted Mechanical Bull Sales in July with interest in buying two more mechanical bulls, but their funding request was reportedly denied

The Guard and the company remained in touch, however, and on Sept. 4 the Guard posted a solicitation notice at FedBizOpps.gov, with an award notice coming Oct. 7 — this Monday — to Mechanical Bull Sales at a cost of $47,174.

The website, CNSnews.com, wrote about it, drawing national attention.

Any plans the Guard might have had are now kaput, according to McIntire.

“We’re not going to buy any bulls,” he said.