Ammo supplies seem to be a little better these days than they were a few years ago. However, it is still a challenge for some shops to meet demand, and prices have also gone up quite a bit as well. While rumors are continuing to be widely-circulated that the Government (and shell companies) have been gobbling up ammo at alarming rates, this is not necessarily the case. The real reasons that we see lots of empty spaces on store shelves may be a little less sinister than you may think. However, the consequences of our longstanding supply and demand problem are the same nonetheless.
The Market at Work
Rumors about vast ammo shortages got the attention of Congress a couple of years ago to the point where public hearings were held to address the situation. One of the things that got a lot of press attention was that the Department of Homeland Security was gobbling up ammunition at record rates.
However, an investigation into the matter indicated that those purchases were in line with meeting the needs of a vast and growing array of law enforcement agencies that fall under the jurisdiction of DHS. Additionally, purchase records indicate that the government has actually been buying less ammunition year over year. A lot of people don’t believe this, and maybe this explanation is just another example of governmental secrecy, but these purchases don’t come close to the consumer demand for ammunition that has exploded over the past few years.
Ammo manufacturers are even telling people that the reason that supplies are in high demand is because more people are buying than ever before. Sales trends show that increases in ammo purchases started to spike after 9/11 and really took off in the run up to the election of President Obama. Fears of a global economic catastrophe, gun control and governmental tyranny are just a few examples of reasons why ammo sales have shot through the roof. Couple that with about a 50% increase in gun sales, and it’s not too hard to see that our ammo shortage is being created by us and not the US government alone.
There has always been a relationship between gun and ammo purchases and civil or economic instability. When times are uncertain, sales go up. When things seem secure, sales go down. We’ve been living in some very uncertain times.
Ammo manufacturers have been slow to expand production early on because of uncertainty as to whether demand would last long enough to make it worth their while. Building bigger production lines and hiring more employees costs a lot of money, and it took a couple of years for producers to make these investments. This explains the shortage as well as the price increases that we’ve been experiencing.
Crowds wait to enter Larrys gun shop in HSV.
Uncertain Future
While things are starting to look better, keep in mind that the ammo industry is still struggling to keep up with demand. This means that if times continue to become more uncertain, and more and more people start to load up on guns and ammo, then we can expect shortages and price increases in the future as well.
This is why it is so important to stock up and be prepared. Just like a run on a bank or crazy mobs of people raiding grocery stores for supplies during a crisis, ammo can also vanish into thin air. The irony is that much of the hoarding and supply shortages will be at the hands of jittery preppers as opposed to the government. Don’t get caught up in the controversy and miss the forest for the trees. Stock up now while you can.
