I've been wondering about this for a while now. Is this speculation, or have you seen stories about this? I've seen nothing to account for the .22LR shortage except ammo buyers buying it by the pallet load.
But your point about a brass shortage is new to me. Can you cite a source for this?
No, but think about it. A producer like CCI is connected to blazer and various caliber productions. CCI used to be readily available in 22lr and 22 magnum. Now, not a round to be found while the other calibers are being heavily manufactured to fill asap government orders. If CCI had brass a plenty they would be spitting out 22lr and 22 magnum at their usual pace which is about 500,000 to 1 million rounds per day, IIRC.