Posted on 04/16/2009 4:58:11 AM PDT by reaganaut1
FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. -- The way Jay Chambers sees it, the semiautomatic weapons in his firearm collection might be the most promising investment in his financial portfolio.
Like many gun enthusiasts, Mr. Chambers, a manager for a door wholesaler here, believes President Barack Obama and the Democrats in Congress soon will reimpose a version of an expired federal ban on the sale of so-called assault weapons. If such a law passes, he figures his collection -- enough guns, ammo magazines and weapon parts to assemble about 30 AK-47s, AR-15s and other semiautomatic rifles -- could triple in value.
"A guy could easily make a lot of money," says Mr. Chambers, 47 years old, while at Autrey's Armory, a gun store about 20 miles south of Atlanta.
Purchases of guns and ammunition are surging across the country. Nearly four million background checks -- a key measure of sales because they are required at the purchase of a gun from a federally licensed seller -- were performed in the first three months of 2009. That is a 27% increase over the same period a year earlier, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
No one knows exactly what is behind the gun-buying craze. Some buyers say they are stocking up for themselves in anticipation of new gun-control laws, while others say they're worried about deteriorating public safety as the economy worsens.
But it's also clear that part of the gun-buying rally is driven by people like Mr. Chambers who are buying weapons the way others invest in a hot stock. The buying is pumping up prices. Many popular models of guns are back-ordered for a year or more. Some manufacturers are operating plants 24 hours a day.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
wanna bet ?
I would almost think buying them in quantity with the intent to sell when price went up would require a FFL.
Anyone buying as investment should read up the laws so as not to get into trouble
Not to mention that the BATFE will be knocking on his door and asking for a copy of his 07 FFL to qualify him as a manufacture.
The WSJ ain’t what it used to be. There wasn’t even a mention of the Tea Parties today.
ping to my ol’ man! ;-)
Plenty of good stocks right there!
Technically, you can assemble firearms from parts for your own personal use. You can even completely manufacture your own firearms for personal use. You can even then sell those firearms that you built for personal use, provided you do so legally and inscribe a “serial” number on there. However, like everything with the government, if you’re doing such to any capacity without a license, you’re darned right they will make you a criminal just because.
Any tips for someone who wants a gun and ammo for home defense, but is late to this whole game? Do gun show sales rip you off? How do you know if a gun from a gun show is in decent shape or a lemon?
I'm really disappointed to read this in the WSJ, where the staff supposedly has a slightly more informed view on economics than the average gaggle of idiot journalists.
It's classic run behavior. It happens with every commodity and has happened recently with gasoline and somewhat less so with toilet paper (the infamous Johnny Carson fake shortage). When the public perceives that the price or the availability (it's essentially the same thing) of a known commodity that is in demand is likely to change from an external circumstance, it responds by purchasing that product in greater quantities. Once this happens the supply goes down, not from whatever external circumstance (in this case more restrictive gun control laws) but as a consequence of the reduced supply that results from the run itself.
In short, it's a feedback loop. Once it's started the way to stop it is (1) to change the perception, and (2) to meet the demand with greater supply. The second of these is happening - ammunition manufacturers are running at full speed. The first of these is not happening.
The perception remains the same. What has maintained it is a clear lack of trust - fully merited - on the part of the public that the availability and price of firearms and ammunition is not going to be effected by external - i.e. political - circumstances. The media have attempted to dismiss this by breezily claiming that sufficient reassurances have been made and that if the purchasers don't trust the media and the administration on that score they're frightened, paranoid, hysterical, or now - this is actually a new one - greedy.
In fact, what the continuation of the run does demonstrate is that nobody trusts either the media or the politicians on the matter. Instead of sneering at gun purchasers as being uninformed or emotionally unstable, these ought to take a look in their own house and figure out why they aren't able to reassure the purchasers.
It isn't difficult. Carefully-worded statements that "nobody's talking about confiscating guns" (in fact, even this is patently untrue) carry the clear implication that measures short of outright confiscation are still on the table, which they are. Smooth reassurance that one's hunting rifle is safe (also patently untrue) imply that anything declared as a non-hunting firearm is not, which they are not. In short, nobody believes the lies anymore except occasionally the people who repeat them. That's not a good position for communications media to be in.
“Fear and Greed” had people in the streets protesting taxes and Socialism as well.
I almost did once. Then I took the rifle and went 'shopping for groceries'. Any month with an 'r' in these parts is good for whitetail...That rifle fed four families for a year, far more than the money it would have brought in would have.
I will second that. Remember the footage of the thugs in New Orleans after Katrina? The police were pinned down and the rabble (us) were left on their own. Every time there is an economic downturn, crime goes up. Plus when you have dim senators like schumer and dim reps like bobby rush (See HR 45) floating ideas that will either make ammo so expensive we can’t afford it or HR 45 which makes us ask permission from Eric Holder is we can possess firearms we already have. Most normal thinking people who can connect the dots are figuring that some of this will come to pass. So they act on what they believe is going to happen. The other fun fact of HR 45 is that you have to ask permission to possess a gun of any type and submit a huge amount of information on yourself. For any reason they deny us permission, they now have your name, address, fingerprint, photo, type of firearm, brand and serial number on and on and on. I cannot trust this gang with that much information.
The Constitution is written in language that the common man could understand. I means what it means, no more.
Would the CZ-25 kick like a mule, or is their large round rather tame? Would it be comparable to a 92F or other 9mm?
What if a friend wants to buy one off you?
Load with a .30 sabot with a .22 pill and let the good times roll.
I guess it depends on what kind of car a person could get. You could get a used one for just a few thousand.
The only gun to leave my hands was my first Glock, a .40 caliber Model 23.
Something was hinky with the barrel, it always started to tumble bullets after they flew about 10-15 yards.
I traded it for a Model 34, a real tack driver.
I’ve still got about 1500 rounds of mixed .40 round nose and HP ammo and no .40 to shoot it out of.
I’ll probably hang onto it for now.
As soon as Obama comes out at a press conference and promises to not sign any firearm legislation, no way, no how, this gun and ammo binge will end.
Oh, and also promise to rein in his AG and DHS chief, and the BATFE.
waiting
waiting
chirp
Heh. Depends whether I want to hang onto it or not.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.