there is no other explanation for .22 shortages other than people are hoarding the stuff
and this is adding to the sense of shortage,
which is leading to the sense of fear,
which is leading to people hoarding even more.
Posted on 06/23/2013 11:22:12 PM PDT by neverdem
An international firearms dealer said the White House is blocking ammunition sales to American citizens as federal agencies continue to stockpile.
“There are elements in the United States government moving to obstruct commercial ammunition sales,” said Anthony Melé, an international firearms dealer and owner of AMI Global Security, LLC. AGS is a defense trade and manufacturer’s exporter registered with the U.S. Department of Defense and the United Nations.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives denied AGS’s application for an ammunition-order by designating typical rifle rounds as armor piercing if they are made with a steel core instead of a lead core, he said. “They designated the ammunition AP, defined as armor piercing, even though the ammunition being supplied cannot pierce armor.”
“If ATFE were accurate, then a ten-cent bullet could penetrate a $5 million Abrams tank,” he said. “Obviously this makes little technical sense.”“What makes a bullet armor piercing along with the caliber, full metal jacket brass is the projectile of the bullet, not the inner core,” he said.
“We secured a deal between an international supplier and an American wholesaler for four million rounds of ammunition used typically with semi-automatic rifles, after a three-month intense negotiation process that started in January,” said Melé.
They successfully negotiated many licenses, approvals, and shipping details in order to transport the ammunition over multiple borders to close the sale, only to be rejected by ATFE, said the U.S. Army veteran. “There were technical difficulties involved, but we were able to successfully lock all parties into an agreement. It was not easy.”
After the deadly Dec. 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., that resulted in 26 deaths, including the lone-gunman in, President Barack H. Obama Jr. called for immediate action and concrete gun control policies.
Melé, who studied international diplomacy and international conflict management at Vermont’s Norwich University, said they suffered a significant loss due to the anti-Second Amendment antics of the Obama administration, which have a hidden agenda of disarmament.
The AP designation is an excuse to decrease commercial sales of ammunition, he said. “There is a real shortage of ammunition in the United States perhaps due to the Obama administration buying-up the entire surplus and directing agencies to block ammunition imports.”
Republican lawmakers in the Senate and House of Representatives introduced a joint bill in late April that would limit the amount of ammunition federal agencies, except for the Department of Defense, are permitted to purchase.
“The Obama administration has prevented Americans from obtaining the very same rounds that the government is buying,” Melé said.
“Some would opine that the steel core bullets are the dreaded cop killer ones, but that too is inaccurate when the projectile disintegrates on impact,” he said. Teflon-coated bullets, sometimes colloquially known as ”cop killer bullets” are covered with a coating of polytetrafluoroethylene. Developed in the 1960s for improved penetration against hard targets, the product was discontinued in the 1990s.
“After the Sandy Hook tragedy, ammunition supply decreased dramatically,” said Enrique A. DeJesus, who is a U.S. Air Force veteran and avid sportsman from Rotterdam, N.Y.
Prices for ammunition have gone up considerably and major stores are rationing supplies, he said. “Wal-Mart in Albany County is now limiting purchases to three boxes per customer.”
“I prefer to support my local gun store American Shooter Supply before looking elsewhere, but the situation is basically the same wherever you go,” he said.
To accommodate its customers, ASS has introduced a service where customers can sign up and are notified via text or phone when ammunition has arrived, he said. “It is their way of being customer-focused and doing their best to deliver ammunition in the current anti-gun climate.”
DeJesus, who studied political science with an emphasis in law at New Paltz University, said there is a small group of ammunition buyers who are capitalizing off the government’s ammo-grab. “They are purchasing bulk quantities and re-selling at a marked-up price, essentially price gouging.”
Price gouging is when a seller prices goods much higher than what is considered reasonable or fair. “As a result, firearms enthusiasts have to decide whether those high prices are worth it,” he said.
“While defensive ammunition is readily available versus the scarcity of target ammunition, it is more expensive and contains hollow points which expand upon entry and are not ideal for training purposes,” he said.
“Target or ball ammunition contains a solid projectile which does not expand upon entry and is better suited for training. Currently these are the hardest to find,” he said.
DeJesus said that the exercise of our Second Amendment right has been temporarily neutered because of an artificial ammunition shortage.
Nonetheless, all guns are lethal, he said. “People ought to be involved in some type of continual training to maintain proficiency and readiness, since it is a perishable skill.”
“As a responsible and lawful gun owner, safety is paramount when handling firearms of any kind, but politicians and officials in Washington D.C. should not be in the business of determining which ammunition I train with,” he said.
“It is disconcerting to know that the federal government wants to keep ammunition out of the hands of law abiding civilians.” said the International Defensive Pistol Association member. IDPA is a shooting sport that teaches members how to effectively respond in self defense scenarios and real life encounters.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who has been in office since 2009, is funded by congress without accountability and oversight, DeJesus said. “Napolitano has a standing open order for more ammunition, but no one knows why.”
“If DHS can have ammunition, why can’t we?” he asked.
The National Rifle Association member said it is no shock that officials are attempting to subvert the sale of ammunition. “A gun is just a paper weight without an ammunition supply.”
Some recent news stories say DHS has also requested 22LR, .410, 45 Long Colt, and several other cartridges that have less than zero law enforcement or security usage. So that’s where 22LR has gone.
1)Intimidating anyone who deals with the manufacture and sale of firearms, ammunition, and firearms related industries. Just look at what Obama-friendly businesses have done, such as GE Capital denying credit to gun stores. Or Bank of America refusing to do business with gun manufacturers.
2)DHS and other agencies buying up all ammo designed to create commercial shortages.
3) The destruction of once-fired military brass rather than selling it through auction as has been custom.
4) Putting out the word to political aspirants (Cuomo, Hickenlooper, etc.) that passing gun control legislation will earn you national political points allowing you career advancement.
Having said all this, also part of the problem is people buying up ammo with reckless abandon. They are piling it high and stacking it deep. This is creating shortages. Unless .22 manufacturers are lying about full production, there is no other explanation for .22 shortages other than people are hoarding the stuff and this is adding to the sense of shortage, which is leading to the sense of fear, which is leading to people hoarding even more.
What sources have you seen stating that DHS or other agencies are purchasing .22LR?
there is no other explanation for .22 shortages other than people are hoarding the stuff
and this is adding to the sense of shortage,
which is leading to the sense of fear,
which is leading to people hoarding even more.
TB, thank you for the link.
I’m reading the bidding data, and I’m not sure I’m reading it right.
Does it say that the PO is asking for 91,680 rounds of all types/calibers?
Thanks.
Junior. We should call him JUNIOR . It fits.
Whistle blowers now have their next assignment: the location of those stored fed bullets.
Just make it very pubic.
The real question is finding out where the govt. is storing all this ammo so we know where to find it when all hell breaks loose........
Three Letter Agencies.
I do not get why you guys think 22LR is hard to find. It is all over the web. And since it is hard to find you should be willing to pay more to at least ensure you have wht you think you need. Gunbot shows plenty of 22LR and other calibers.
I have been shooting the ammo, some of it anyway...can’t see any difference as yet.
However, I did get a box of Winchester 22 LR 36 grain/1280fps in 333 round box where the casings look very very dirty like they skipped a step. Could be the lead rubbing off from the loose packed 333 rds, but still very dirty.... I think QC was off on that lot of production.
Thanks for the ping!
Amen, and I have made sure that I purchased conversion kits for my rifle and handguns so that if I ran out of one, I could fall back to the other. Thinking about a Glock now, as I’ve heard you could get a .22 conversion kit for some of them...
In the sandbox we were told to call them OGA -
Other
Governmental
Agencies
TLA - Three Letter Acronym.
4 million rds seems like a very small amt.
Plenty of other explanations. One is that you think Congress has the real power, when the real power is in the MSM.
If the MSM treated the Obama regime the same way they treated G.W. Bush, he would long ago have been impeached, convicted, and gone.
The shortage of ammunition is simple to understand. There are many millions of new shooters. A large number of gun owners want to stockpile ammunition, so those who would have bought a 50 round box once a year now want a case of 5,000 rounds, just as insurance.
The production plants cannot meet that runup in demand overnight. It looks like they are finally starting to saturate the new state of the market.
If the current regime doesn't do anything more to make people worried about potential unrest, future inflation, or a rogue president destroying their Constitutional rights, I expect the ammo shortage to be over in six months.
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