Fear of new regs drives gun, ammo shortage

ap ^ | 3/27/09 | BEN NEARY

[Flavius]

Concern that the Obama administration could impose a new ban on some semiautomatic weapons is driving worried gun owners to stockpile ammunition and cartridge reloading components at such a rate that manufacturers can't meet demand.

Attorney General Eric Holder last month suggested that the Obama Administration favors reinstituting a U.S. ban on the sale of assault weapons. President Bill Clinton first signed such a ban into law in 1994, generally blocking some military-style guns with magazines that hold many cartridges. President George Bush had allowed the ban to expire.

"We have heard from all across the country that there is a tremendous shortage of ammunition," said Lawrence Keane, senior vice president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation. "We've heard this from the manufacturers, that their customers are calling them trying to get supplies for inventory, and that the manufacturers are going full-bore, pardon the pun."

[Texas Fossil]

Fear of new regulations, NO.

Fear of the Communist in the White House, YES.

Fear and Loathing.

[wintertime]

While fear of higher taxes and regulations may have some role in driving up gun and ammunition sales, this isn’t the primary reason.

Civil unrest and possible revolution is the *real* motivation driving the sales.

[alloysteel]

Also expect taxation and regulation of ammo sales, even the outlawing of reloading of cartridges. This will be dressed up as a “safety” issue, but the real intent is to control and limit the amount and kind of ammunition that will be made available to civilians.

We shall have to be driving to Mexico and making deals with the drug cartels for adequate weaponry to stand off some “Waco” and “Ruby Ridge” type raids. How about some rifle grenades to rig as IEDs and some land mines too, to protect the access to these redoubts, until such time as an effectual counteroffensive may be undertaken.

The Second Amendment was not written to protect the rights of sports hunters.

[mylife]

I think that I read DPMS, has a 36 mo waiting list on AR 15s

[mamelukesabre]

And their prices have doubled.

36 now? Last I heard it was 24.

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

i just order everyting i need online yesterday. Only additional cost was shipping. Just because Walmart and the local gun shop are out does not mean you can’t find it. PM me if you want the website i ordered from.

[mylife]

I dont recall where I saw that #

[Texas Fossil]

The Second Amendment was not written to protect the rights of sports hunters.

You are correct. The the 2nd Amendment was written to protect the citizens from an oppressive government.

[Travis McGee]

Here's my tip of the month: there is still a great pistol and ammo deal out there waiting for you. If you have waited too long to arm up, or are on a limited budget, or if you want one more, look at the excellent milsurp CZ-52 pistol and 7.62X25 Tokarev ammo.

You can get a CZ-52 for about $200 at any gun show or at many gun stores. The ammo can be had for as low as 11 cents a round in any quantity you want. Extra mags are from $12 to $20 each.

The milsurp ammo is full metal jacket, firing an 85gr bullet at 1,600fps. These will go through car doors, kevlar helmets, kevlar vests etc like an icepick through butter. OTOH, they will also go through one bad guy and maybe hit a good guy behind him.

However, you can buy hollowpoints ("Wolf Gold" with brass shells) for about $19/50, or half the price of comparable 9mm JHPs. My test "Wolf Gold" JHP ammo expanded to .60 caliber, the same as my test 9mm JHPs.

So for $400, you could buy a CZ-52, 1,500 rounds of assorted ammo, and a few extra mags. OR, you could buy about 2/3s of a "brand name" pistol, and no ammo.

It's just a thought. This is a great bargain. The ammo is cheap and plentiful at all of the internet catalog sites. Don't wait, the libtards will soon slam the door on foreign gun and ammo imports, and the prices will go way up.

Another benefit of this pistol is that it is very accurate, with very fine sights. WIth this flat-shooting ammo, you can hit at 100 yards with ease. Downsides are brittle firing pins (buy a spare, and don't dry fire) and a decocking function that you should not trust. Just lower the SA hammer like a 1911. The safety works like a 1911, so if you are used to 1911s, it will be very easy to use the CZ-52

[Noumenon]

Gun and ammo sales are up because people expect that they’re going to have to use them.

[Billthedrill]

Trust the AP to work "fear" into every headline. In fact, fear has little to do with it. This is a classic run on a commodity, no different for firearms and ammunition than for gasoline or toilet paper. It is absolutely rational behavior, based on the perception that a commodity is likely to change either in availability or in price (essentially the same thing). The federal government could change that perception in short order if it were to make a convincing reassurance that it does not intend to take actions that will affect availability or price of firearms and ammunition. It declines to do so. Hence the run.

In fact it is highly likely that the federal government will take such an action. Eric Holder has mentioned it in public. Hillary Clinton has. Only fear of severe political consequences kept Pelosi from signing on, and were that to change - say by an organized campaign to blame the Mexican violence on American guns - then she'd change her tune in a heartbeat. The run is not fear, hysteria, or paranoia, it is well-founded, rational behavior.

[Chinstrap61a]

Those in government also recognize a strong form of public sebtiment when they see it - This run on semiautos, pocket pistols, and ammo is a free people speaking their mind and those in office oppose that will at their peril.

Have spoken to some congressional staffers and they remember the effects of the first "Assault Rifle" Ban very well: a massive overturn at the next election.

[CapnJack]

How many more stories like this are we going to have to read about.

Yes ... there is a major shortage of reloading components, ammo, etc...

But these stories are written to try to portray 2nd Amendment practitioners as “nuts” or some such garbage. I wish that statements like (to paraphrase) “there is something wrong when granny comes in to buy 5,000 rounds of .22”, were not uttered by firearms shop employees/owners. This seems to portray again that we are panicking lunatics.

[Eye of Unk]

Over at a well known shooting forum a poster made a comment that he was approached by a neighbor who knew he was a gun owner and a reloader and this neighbor wasn’t actually a friend but he nearly demanded the guy to load him up some defensive ammo for the .45 he just bought but was unable to get ammo.
I feel this will lead to a lot of problems in the near future and my stance is that I will absolutely NOT give, sell or barter any reloads, I will will boxed ammo if I feel I can part with it.

Its a liabilty thing plus I prefer to not have my prints and DNA on ammo that I have no idea what its being used for.

[VoiceOfBruck]

It’s not fear. It’s common sense.

[Flavius]

a dude in the gun shop told me panic is fake this is real
...

[mamelukesabre]

You could be right. I bought 2 lower recievers 6-7 months ago and put my name on the list for 2 more. They aren’t here yet. I was told “up to 24 months”

[mamelukesabre]

There is something wrong when people start walking into gunshops and ordering 10 to 20 thousand dollars worth of guns and ammo. This is happening. What people should be asking themselves is “why?”. What the heck has got people so scared?

[HotLead61]

Gun and ammo sales are up because people expect that they’re going to have to use them.

And, IMO, those people are correct. Hard to see it going any other way.