For those
of us who shoot, and even those who were hoping to buy a gun, you have probably
noticed the recent severe shortage of guns and ammunition. So where has all the
ammo gone? And even more importantly, when will it be back?
I took the
liberty of talking to my gun shop owner friend again to find out the answers to
these very questions and this is what I’ve learned:
Towards the
end of the year, like any other business does, gun and ammunition manufacturers
allow their on-hand inventory to drop in anticipation of tax season. Since a
full count of everything in the warehouse has to be counted and cataloged, it
is easier and much more practical to sell it without putting a rush on making
replacements. Given the outcome of the election, there was a run on customers
buying guns on the retail side, which caused an already anemic supply to dip
even further. The larger problem then
occurred immediately after the unfortunate events in Newton, CT in December.
There are those in the country who are calling for a “ban on assault weapons,”
and then there are those of us who understand that assault weapons were banned
in 1934, and fully automatic guns are still illegal for average citizens.
Resupply
takes time; maybe even a long time. The machines that make bullets are set up
to make a specific size round. The company makes, for example, 200,000 rounds
of .22 LR bullets. These are boxed up, and shipped out to the lucky stores who
are at the top of the list. The machine is then refitted to make .45’s, and so
forth. With the industry only being able to produce x amount of a given size bullet at a time, hopefully you can see
where the bottleneck in the process is. The manufacture of guns and magazines
are a similar story. Believe me, they are working as fast as they can while
keeping an eye on safety and quality.
The best
advice I can offer if you have guns and ammo is to be selective about the
quantity of rounds you shoot for target practice. Personally, my range time has
decreased significantly, but I do try to shoot 10 to 20 rounds every other week
or so. If you have very few bullets for a particular gun, save them until you
have more bullets in hand. I cannot tell you how many rounds you should have
stored since that would be like my saying that you should have a certain amount
of money in your bank account. The given number of rounds you want to keep in
personal stock should be a number you are comfortable with. Then get more, just
in case; we are preppers after all. Store rounds in every size you have a
working gun for; hopefully that’s just common sense. And if you are in the
market for a gun, look at the CURRENT
AVAILIBILITY of ammo before making
your purchase. It is much better to have ammo to shoot than it is to have
to throw your gun at someone for self-protection. Rocks are cheaper and serve
that purpose very well.
Call local
gun dealers and ask when they get their deliveries on a typical day, then be
there in person with cash in hand
when the delivery comes in. Gun dealers are not mystical people with crystal
balls and they cannot tell you the future. They honestly have very little idea
of what will be in a given shipment on a specific day, so being there as a
non-obnoxious observer when they open the box and start restocking the shelves
is a good idea. Having the money to pay for your prized find is another
benefit. With demand being so high of late, very few dealers will hold your
gun, ammo, or magazine unless you are a very
good, and frequent customer, and maybe not even then.
Lastly, be
patient. Those of us who have guns already should not need to be in such a
hurry to by another one, simply because you have room in the safe. Buying it to
resell to your neighbor for a profit is something you’ll have to answer to God
over. Some of the sheep are starting to pay attention, and that means they are
potential fellow preppers who could bring good things to you and your group.
Help them and offer advice, share my advice with them, and hopefully we will
get through the next 4 with our guns and ammo still on our shelves.
Thanks for reading, and Happy Prepping!!
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