I'm suggesting that it's all relative in a capitalistic environment despite the government edicts.
I guess once they get to the point where they are willing to pay $1 per cartridge and China has overrun Asia since our troops didn't have ammo, the "capitalistic" system will kick in and rescue the Republic.
Until then, only a fool would add production lines (or start a new one) for a product they can *only* sell to the gov't (without a long-term contract in place).
The free market system doesn't work when it's not even close to being "free".