I’m of the mind that some smart folks have taken the lessons learned from the electrical shortage in California five years ago...and applied the business principal to ammo. If they act like they don’t have the ammo...then they can get a short supply of it...you are probably willing to pay ten to twenty percent more for the ammo. It wouldn’t take a massive effort to get a dozen manufacturers to bring manufacture down a notch....make more money for less ammo.
I don’t think this is an artificial shortage. It would not be smart business. A shortage of ammunition will put a halt to gun sales. Who will spend hundreds of dollars to buy a firearm he/she cannot shoot?