I know they aren’t vaporware, but a 1-2 year ‘wait’ after paying for it up front comes damned close to it. (I’m not pulling those wait times out of my keester, EVERY supplier in the metro Atlanta area for 100 miles quotes that as experienced delivery.)
You can get your hands on one if you go to GunBroker and pay somebody 150-200% of what they sell for in the shops.
They should quit advertising if they cannot deliver in a reasonable time.
Just because there’s a long lead time is no reason to stop advertising. The wait time on some Ferrari models is over 18 months - should they stop advertising? The only gunsmith in the entire world who can properly free float a FAL barrel has a 6-plus-month waiting list just to get a slot for him to even look at your rifle - should he stop advertising his services? If you want some 1911s these days, the wait time is now out over 3 years. Should their makers also stop advertising and promoting them?
Kel-Tec is a small company with a number of exceedingly popular products of late; they have a finite production capacity and these days it’s damn near impossible for a small gun maker to get financing to expand. They’re doing the best they can, and I say that as someone who doesn’t own one.
I would point out that they do seem allocate production based on past sales for the most part. If your area wasn’t a big KT purchasing area before, you’re going to get less units than an area that has consistently sold out in the past and continues to do so - like Texas. I have friends in AZ that have te same ‘can’t find one’ complaint you do, whereas here in Dallas they do become available every so often, if only briefly.