Interesting observations on gun availability

[jaykayd]

I've been following a few different types of firearms on Gunbroker.com for the last several months and just wanted to share my observations.

Almost every single model was relatively plentiful around Thanksgiving, then of course Newtown made them less so (along with an average price increase of about 20%). Since Christmas, the numbers available were getting better and better until about mid-February, when many of them went back to Newtown levels. That was what I found most interesting.


I think an explanation might have been that people were recuperating from the Christmas and post-Christmas buying and had to save up again for a month before continuing to spend.

Yes this info is very limited but I think that at least makes it more focused. I'm offering it up just as sort of a "hmm, interesting" instead of cold hard facts, but I'd love to know if people are seeing the same thing or even the exact opposite. I'd especially like to know if local retailers are experiencing the same thing. By the way, prices for these auctions ("buy-it-now") have remained relatively constant since January, coming down little.


I followed the following firearms (and by "follow" I mean I did a daily search for the following firearms in "buy it now" auctions-- search terms in parentheses if different):

Glock 17
Glock 19
Glock 23
Beretta 92A1
Beretta 92A1 10RD (J9A9F11)
Smith & Wesson Shield 9mm & .40 (Smith Shield)

Although I am interested in purchasing one of the above firearms, I never intended to get them through Gunbroker but instead through one of my local retailers... I originally just wanted to get an idea of a good price vs. bad price.

Thoughts?

[ExcuseMe]

I've seen a pause in buying. Ammo is back in stock at my local shop Wild Sports. They are still limiting (they were down to 1 box and now up to 4). Guns are starting to trickle back in. The hand guns are still a bit scarce, but AR types are there now. Prices haven't come back down though. Hopefully though with increased stock, we might see prices fall a bit. We'll see I guess.

[MustangSteveGT]

People are getting their tax returns back too. Another injection of funds people don't have all the time.

[appagohm]

You can still find any gun you want used, the only issue i see is the price.

[5.0Driver]

Supply slowly starting to catch up with demand?

[five.five-six]

You can still find any gun you want used, the only issue i see is the price.

That▲

[myk]

Don't forget when Feinstein opened her trap a few weeks ago, with a new set of relatively terrifying new gun control proposals people started panic buying again...

[SilverTauron]

Supply slowly starting to catch up with demand?

See, gun prices vary wildly by locale. Pre-Newtown, last year the same gun which sold for $550 in South Dakota retailed for $650 in northern Illinois. By my SD standards, $600 for the item would be a ripoff. An Illinois buyer would see it as a deal.

IMO, what further muddies the waters is not only that different people have different ideas of what "market value" means, there's the legal environment to consider also. Many gun buyers are stockpiling whatever they can get before their local governments pull the plug on the 2nd Amendment.

Several states are passing or are considering laws banning magazines , ammo without background checks,certain weapons, etcetera. Someone living in Colorado has until their anti-gun laws hit the governor's desk to get whatever standard capacity weapons ,mags, ammo, etc they want; by definition this means a Colorado gun buyer's operating under a time limit. If the only guns they can get before the law is passed are overpriced, then they have to either eat the cost or be permanently denied the product.

Naturally those of us without such a deadline have the luxury to wait out the storm. Millions of American gun owners trapped behind enemy lines in NJ, CA, and elsewhere don't, which is why I think the market won't settle down until every anti-gun state's made their play, for better or worse. Once the states' legislatures have closed up for the year we'll see things calm down, one way or the other.

[rm1911]

Don't forget when Feinstein opened her trap a few weeks ago, with a new set of relatively terrifying new gun control proposals people started panic buying again...

I'd bet that c-nt owns ruger stock. you know her husband is a serious financial bigwig whose had plenty of scandals.

[fmunk]

It's really a perfect storm of events. The gun industry generally cut back towards the end of the year to take a break and for Shot Show. As for buyers, lots of people wait for the end of the year for their year-end bonus, when they have a better idea on their taxes, or they've been saving all year.

Then Sandy Hook happened, which pushed a lot of people who were on the fence about buying over or gave a swift kick in the *** to those who always talked about buying but never got off their asses to do anything. Noticed the huge increase of noobs here on Calguns asking questions?

So add what I mentioned in the first paragraph to the second, you end up with an unusually large number of people buying and not enough supply.

A-s-s is sensored but not asses? How stupid is that?

[atto]

I'd bet that c-nt owns ruger stock. you know her husband is a serious financial bigwig whose had plenty of scandals.

Ruger is against AWB 13

[bayonet]

Don't know if this has happened across the whole industry, but it seems like many MSRPs have significantly increased as well. I doubt those prices will ever come down.

[rm1911]

Ruger is against AWB 13

that's good news. but it wasn't about ruger, it was about her trying to profiteer off this crap. she is helping to drive up guns sales and gun profits. she's probably profiting off this. her husband got a sweetheart deal from the feds to refi FDIC foreclosures.

I was just commenting that she's a worthless piece of human excrement.

[deephouse]

I followed the following firearms (and by "follow" I mean I did a daily search for the following firearms in "buy it now" auctions-- search terms in parentheses if different):

You can set search parameters to email you, just like eBay notifications will email you on searches. HTH

[Sunday]

Don't know if this has happened across the whole industry, but it seems like many MSRPs have significantly increased as well. I doubt those prices will ever come down.

The dollar value is dropping like a lead brick.