Basically.
Look, it isn’t just ammo. It isn’t just AR’s and AR components.
It’s EVERYTHING.
I make rifles from mil-surp actions and new custom barrels. Want to know how long I’m waiting for a barrel these days? About 3X what I used to wait in 2010. There are some barrel makers (Krieger) who are out to 27+ weeks for a barrel - that used to be available in four to six weeks.
That’s for a barrel that you need a gunsmith to:
1. Cut to length.
2. Chamber.
3. Thread to the action.
4. Crown.
5 (sometimes) turn to the desired OD and profile.
That’s like three to four hours of work on a lathe (and possibly 20 minutes more on a mill for Springfields and Winchesters) - obviously not something that some amateur is going to do on his/her own, like cramming AR parts together into a useable gun.
The only guns that are readily available are Mosin’s, and even then the spam-can ammo has disappeared.
People are buying almost anything and everything that launches a bullet.
BTW, Thanks Alberto Gonzales (W’s AG) for the barrel ban. /s