Posted on 03/31/2009 5:17:17 AM PDT by kellynla
As I was walking through the ammunition aisle at my local Bass Pro Shops, I muttered to the man standing next to me how disappointingly empty the shelves were. “Not as bad as last week”, he said. I shouldn’t have been surprised. Back in February, Cabelas, a publicly-traded outdoor outfitter saw its stock go up 35% in one day when earnings blew away estimates because of very strong “sales of firearms and related accessories.”
If President Obama has stimulated anything in America, it is demand for guns and ammunition. According to Rich Wyatt, the voluble and intense owner of Gunsmoke -- a firearms training facility just outside Denver -- “If I had known it would be this good in the gun business, I might have voted for Obama.”
It’s not just a couple of stores seeing a run on guns and even more so on ammunition. From local gun shops to WalMart to sporting goods stores, the story is the same: When the store gets a shipment of ammo, particularly .45, 9mm, and .38 handgun ammunition, “people come in and they buy it all.”
The manager of a local gun shop where I’ve been a customer told me that business has doubled since the election. Whereas the typical first time buyer pre-election had generally been a 30- or 40-something male, first time gun buyers now include more younger people, older people, and women than in the past. “They’re buying semi-automatic pistols and shotguns for home defense, as well as ‘concealed weapons’. There’s also a strong interest in ‘black guns’”, military-style assault rifles, both from people who want to buy them “because they can” as well as others who believe they’ll be able to sell them at higher prices someday soon.
Where politics was rarely mentioned during a gun purchase a year ago, the store manager says at least 60% of his customers mention the Obama administration now.
At Rich Wyatt’s Gunsmoke, “We are getting ‘Prius-driving Obama people’ buying guns because they realize they picked the wrong pony…even though they never admit it.” Just like my local gun shop, Wyatt has “old ladies and young people and liberals” buying guns. He says that while there were spikes in gun buying during the Clinton administration, during the Rodney King riots, and even just before Y2K, he’s never seen anything remotely on this scale.
A customer I spoke with at Bass Pro Shops (the employees wouldn’t speak with me for an article) actually owns a gun shop, but he was buying ammunition there because his wholesaler had run out. His customers are hoarding ammunition and, to a lesser extent, guns. He described a recent spectacle at a gun show where one vendor had a relatively large supply of ammunition and customers were swarming around him buying 50 boxes at a time…and not at a bargain price.
At Dick’s Sporting Goods, they were almost out of .45 ammunition after having received a shipment just that morning. Not only are people buying as much ammunition as they can find and afford, they’re doing it during the work day rather than taking the chance that it will be gone by the weekend.
As if the message weren’t clear enough, a sign at a local WalMart said “Due to the increased demand from customers for ammunition, our suppliers are increasing production…” A salesman said that their ammunition supply is now infrequent and unpredictable: “We used to get shipments almost every day. Now we only know we’ll have it when we see it. I get at least a half-dozen calls a day asking for ammunition, especially for handguns, and when it arrives, the customers buy everything.”
Over at Gunsmoke, Rich Wyatt says “Now, it’s not what the ammo costs; it’s ‘do you have it?’”
Much of the demand for ammunition is due to an NRA advertising campaign during election season which described Barack Obama’s historical positions on gun issues, including having said that he would support a 500% federal tax on guns and ammunition. And while it is true that Obama has not made many anti-gun statements recently, gun rights expert David Kopel explains clearly that Barack Obama is easily the most anti-gun President in US history.
In his 2004 Senate campaign, Barack Obama said he would like to ban concealed carry permits. Now that Obama is President, Gunsmoke’s concealed carry courses are selling out class after class (50 people in each) in addition to their 3-day pistol classes, which are already sold out through June.
“People are petrified…afraid for their rights that Obama is going to attack. And while Obama says he doesn’t support banning guns, a 500% tax would effectively be a financial ban on both guns and ammunition. I think the left’s goal is that in 50 or 100 years, there are people who don’t even know that they could have bought guns or ammunition.”
Colorado is several months behind in processing concealed carry permits because of demand. Last month, it was reported that Florida “is buried under a backlog of 95,000 applications for concealed-weapons permits and it needs to hire a lot more people to handle the paperwork.” In Georgia, firearm permits were up 79% in 2008 over 2007. In Oklahoma, the number is around 90%. In Ohio, the number of concealed carry licenses issued in the 4th quarter of 2008 was 111% higher than the 4th quarter of 2007.
Wyatt’s concealed carry classes emphasize the basics of gun use, safety, and the law, but “It’s Politics 101 as well, trying to make sure people understand not only their rights regarding guns but also the Constitution and their rights and responsibilities as American citizens.” He tries to make sure people are conscious of the “boiling the frog” approach by government to infringing on our rights, and gun rights in particular, just slowly enough that the average person might not notice. Just be prepared, he warns, for the return of government saying “We’re not banning all guns…just these guns.” And that’s part of the reason that there’s so much demand for ‘these’ guns, which is to say just about every type of gun you can imagine.
Since the election, the shares of gunmaker Smith & Wesson have more than doubled, with competitor Ruger’s shares up nearly as much. Two weeks ago a large gun and ammunition manufacturer, Olin Corp. raised its earnings guidance, anticipating a record quarterly profit for its Winchester ammunition division. The American public is speaking, and they’re saying in no uncertain terms that they don’t believe President Obama’s claims to support gun rights since his history says something very different.
Rich Wyatt’s position is typically none too subtle: “Barack Obama is right about one thing. We are clinging to God and our guns, and I defy him to try to take either one from us.”
As for me, after a day of thinking about the Obama administration and guns, I bought my local WalMart’s last box of .38 caliber ammunition.
Last month here in Alaska there was a stack of 7.62x39 and .308 side by side, the prices were near the same, I have a use for both but I stockpiled the .308 instead.
Now I have an ample supply of Barnes 150gr. TSX bullets but no more new .308 brass, I am thinking I may pull the FMJ bullets on several boxes and reload with the superior Barnes.
I can always use the powder later for those bullets as long as I weigh it first and make notes.
I could never understand why my late Dad kept ammunition for guns he didn’t own. Now I do. Alcohol, tobacco, and firearms isn’t just a branch of law enforcement, and it’s more than a convenience store. They’re all great barter items.
—bflr—
There is great safety in family structure, probably more than any other structure.
The family was and still is the basic unit of society! Long live the rugged individualistic American families!! Long live the rugged resistance!!!
Down with the left's "rural cleansing" in America!!!
It is written that the thief will come in when least expected. Goverment, they have tanks.
As if it’s against the law to own a few tons of ammunition.
Heck, I live in NYC and that sounds ridiculous to me.
I like my CZ52’s. The only real complaint I have with them is that the small black military-style sights are getting hard to see for my old eyes. Some day I might have the slides dovetailed and mount modern three dot sights.
And don’t forget about the long arms. You can pick up a Mosin-Nagant 91-30 for under $100. Ammo for them is still commonly found and relatively cheap. Be advised that the older surplus stuff will have corrosive primers, just take the necessary steps when cleaning (wipe down bolt, swab barrel with windex or soap and water, then clean and oil as usual). The modern ammo made by Wolf, Brown Bear, etc. is non-corrosive.
They are very basic, even crude bolt action rifles, but most have acceptable accuracy with 30-06 power.
A year or two ago I would have recommended a Yugo SKS as an outstanding bargain, but like all semi-autos, they have increased considerably in price.
Full cans of spam are fun to shoot!
Agreed, if the wheels were to come off the cart it would be best to hunker down and keep off the streets...need food and water to do that.
...and lots of batteries or equivalent.
The Hughes Amendment was voted down?
Very good point. Though one would need to be careful about whom one gives it to. In a SHTF scenario, I can see undercover government agents going around selling food for ammo . . .
Someone somewhere, probably at CNN or C-Span, still has the tapes, though, that would establish the reality of the truth for all to see, even if the “Courts” would not overturn it.
You bear ALL the risks on this with almost no reward.
I don’t see any upside to this...even if he says he won’t tell, you can’t be sure of that...and you could have other ‘friends’ just like him show up.
Serious question:
I agree with Broker’s assessment that the average homeowner *at this point in history* doesn’t have any use for a large ammo stockpile, and is unlikely to get off more than 5 rounds if ever called upon to use ammo in a self-defense situation. However, I like to think in the long term. I have several guns, including one untraceable (and will inherit at least one more untraceable), and this is also more than I envision ever having a personal use for. But the next generation is significantly more likely to have a use for well-stocked arsenals, and by the time the imminent need is clear, the stock (both guns and ammo) will be extremely difficult or impossible to obtain.
Guns store well for centuries, as long as they’re kept from wet or extreme dampness. But how long do various types of ammo store, and under what conditions? I know most ammo is not nearly as hardy over the long term as guns (especially oil-coated guns), but what are the specifics. Can anybody provide solid info, or links to solid info? If there’s a way to package handgun and rifle cartridges for reliable 100 year storage (or even 50 year storage), I’d like to know what it is. Especially would like to know details of whether certain types of ammo are significantly more stable in long-term storage than others.
L
Don't know how long shelf life would be, but it would be measurably longer. FWIW
IMO, gun dealers should have done this to start with as well.
If you have an 0bama sticker on your car - we refuse to sell to you.
Yes they do but the range is somewhat limited.
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