An article yesterday interviewed some ammo plant managers. Estimated cost for a new factory is $1 billion. That astounded me as you see that sort of number for a new semiconductor fab, refinery, power plant, etc. You can see why mfgrs are reluctant to make that sort of investment if this is a panic-driven run which will subside. Of course firearm background checks doubled from 2006 to 2012 (8M to 16M) so there is obviously a lot more demand. It must be tough for mfgrs to separate “real” from “panic” demand.
Thanks. I’ve read a number of articles with the assumption that any supply difficulties must necessarily be the result of some malign conspiracy.
I don’t discount that possibility, but just don’t understand why classic market mechanisms don’t explain it equally well.
If purchases of guns doubled during this period, it’s not unreasonable to assume that ammo purchases likely went up even more.
Aren’t there industry statistics about how many rounds are purchased in a given period?