There is no shortage...

[DBLee]

I'm all for capitalism and the right of sellers to do as they please. However, we as buyers can also do as we please. This guy is right. There is no ammo shortage. All you have to do to see that is go to gunbroker or even the ammo forums on calguns and you'll see that there is PLENTY of ammo available. Hell, even my local gun store is fully stocked now. The only thing, obviously is that it's overpriced.

So if there is no ammo shortage, then where is it going? It's going to a new tier of reseller that has sprung up due to the temporary spike in demand. They are the ones with the time and the initiative to be at Walmart at 6am every morning. These people can only exist because we-the-consumer- have given up the use of our faculties and stopped making rational buying decisions.

THERE IS JUST AS MUCH AMMO AS BEFORE. IT IS JUST NOW ON THE SECOND HAND MARKET. Be a rational consumer-- why buy something now when you can wait a week or a month and it will be cheaper? If you must buy it now, then why not do a little bargain hunting and help drive prices downward?

Just because prices are high and there is high demand doesn't mean you should stop bargain hunting. Use your melon and don't pay more than you want to for ammo. Prices will drop accordingly in a few months.

[maxwellca21]

[DBLee]

Christ, did you even read what I said? I'm not railing against profiteering or freedom of enterprise. I'm saying that for capitalism to function properly, we need to be rational consumers.


Glad you got an opportunity to post that jpg you've been saving.

[grammaton76]

Ever considered that when prices rise above a certain point, people become willing to part with some of their stockpile? That's what takes the pressure off of shops for a while (unless the shortage gets really prolonged)...

[killmime1234]

Sorry buddy but "shortage" doesn't mean "less supply than we had before," it means "less supply than demand." So yes, we do have a shortage since demand has increased more than supply has increased.

[Gem1950]

All the "greed is good" Laissez-fairies should see that video. It shows how selfishness (objectivism) ain't all it's cracked up to be.

[dieselpower]

I agree and have two things to say on this...

1) Diamond is a very common formation. DeBeers corp was started by hanging a soup can suspended on a string around Native Africans necks. Then telling them to walk around and pick up the shiny white rocks on the ground. DeBeers controls the Diamond market by releasing a controlled amount, which is just under the demand for their product.

2) A friend who works at Fiocchi has been working 12 hour days, 6 days a week for several months now to meet the companies back orders. The company ships daily to the Distributors.

So where is all the ammo going?

There are two ways to control a market.. Hording and Limiting.

[SilverTauron]

The ammo and gun markets vary by state and locale.

The availability of ammo in Sacramento, California won't be the same as Tyler, Texas.

There's also the legislative aspect to consider. Someone in the United States only has to worry about the Federal government, and so far that monster is being contained. For those unfortunates living in American Socialism states, the shortages will continue until the anti-gun nonsense either gets struck down or becomes law.

[Blue Ridge Reef]

If every gun store, pawn shop, and Walmart in my town has no ammo on the shelf, I call that a shortage.

[tenpercentfirearms]

I am out of .22 LR, .223, .308, 9mm, .40 S&W, .38 Special, and .45 ACP. Yet some guy on the Internet says there is plenty.

[Gem1950]

I agree and have two things to say on this...

1) Diamond is a very common formation. DeBeers corp was started by hanging a soup can suspended on a string around Native Africans necks. Then telling them to walk around and pick up the shiny white rocks on the ground. DeBeers controls the Diamond market by releasing a controlled amount, which is just under the demand for their product.
2) A friend who works at Fiocchi has been working 12 hour days, 6 days a week for several months now to meet the companies back orders. The company ships daily to the Distributors.

So where is all the ammo going?

There are two ways to control a market.. Hording and Limiting.

One thing omitted in the above. DeBeers colludes with powerful friends in government(s) and business to deter (eliminate) their competition.

[therealnickb]

All the "greed is good" Laissez-fairies should see that video. It shows how selfishness (objectivism) ain't all it's cracked up to be.

Except NONE of this would be happening if uncle govy wasn't making noise about banning firearms or limiting ammo sales etc. We're pretty f'in far from "hands off".

[SilverTauron]

Except NONE of this would be happening if uncle govy wasn't making noise about banning firearms or limiting ammo sales etc. We're pretty f'in far from "hands off".

I find it ironic that the very people wailing about "price gouging" are the ones who picked the government which triggered the shortage to begin with.

[kdruff2]

Well written and good assessment of the current situation DBLEE. I would volunteer that this thing, the ammo shortage and high prices, has taken on a life of its own due to what you have pointed out. Large quantities of affordable ammo is making its way into the secondary market (aka black marketers, remarketers, middlemen, profiteers - whatever you want to call them) and being marked up.

What truly was a genuine "run on ammo" due to fear of pending gun/ammo legislation, has now morphed into, for the most part, profiteering. It'll come back down again but it's been prolong by money making.

Not judging anyone who is exploiting the current environment to make a little more money for themselves, and their family, but just calling out what I think we see as the enablers of this on-going saga. This is my humble opinion as well.

[DarkSoul]

The shop I work at part time STILL cannot get any kind of .223/5.56 or 9mm, .40 anything. .45 is slightly available, but only higher end self defense type, no ball ammo to speak of, and .22 is scarse as can be now too. Some of the oddball stuff is available, but then, its oddball stuff, so who cares.