US ammo manufacturers running full tilt, with no end in sight for heightened consumer demand

Wednesday, April 10, 2013 by: J. D. Heyes
Tags: ammo, market demand, supply shortage

(NaturalNews) Gun owners, shooting enthusiasts or just anyone seeking to hoard ammunition like the Department of Homeland Security is having a rough time finding any to buy, let alone stockpile. The recent rhetoric out of the White House and from many members of Congress about the imposition of new gun control laws has the public scrambling to purchase what they can as long as they can - and that rush is causing a severe shortage in the marketplace, especially with more popular calibers.

To be sure, it is the dramatic surge in consumer (and government) demand, not ammunition manufacturers' lack of production, which has created systemic shortages of .223, 9 mm, .40 cal., .45 cal. and other calibers.

Better buy what you can, when you can

The situation is summed up well by ammo maker Hornady. From the company website:

The current political climate has caused extremely high demand on all shooting industry products, including ours. Empty retail shelves, long backorders, and exaggerated price increases on online auction sites - all fueled by rumors and conjecture - have amplified concerns about the availability of ammunition and firearms-related items. ... We are producing as much as we can; much more than last year, which was a lot more than the year before, etc. No one wants to ship more during this time than we do.

We're not sure what "rumors" and "conjecture" Hornady execs are referring to, as we have documented here at Natural News several developments that are prompting American gun owners to rush out and buy up as much ammunition as they can get their hands on. Some of those developments include the government's own order of 2 billion rounds of ammo, as well as DHS' purchase of 7,000 true assault rifles and thousands of heavily armored MRAP (mine resistant ambush protected) vehicles originally built to withstand IED attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan. Washington's anti-gun political push is also fueling the run on ammo.

Ammo shortages are not just limited to certain geographic regions or retail outlets. Numerous reports over the past week or so have noted that there are shortages everywhere. And what's more, gun store owners and industry analysts note that the shortages are going to last into the foreseeable future. Also, prices are going to remain high.

California gun store owner Josh Deaser summed it up when he told a local ABC affiliate "there's just more people wanting to buy ammo then there is ammunition."

"Especially this state, they want to ban everything, so it's like ok, people are afraid they're not gonna be able to get it again, so they're buying it," he said.

Shortages are pervasive

The same scenario is being repeated elsewhere, however - not just heavy gun-control states.

"I was in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago. Their Walmarts don't have anything. Texas doesn't have anything," Deaser customer Ron Holden said.

Gun sales are skyrocketing too, say owners. In fact, Deaser notes that a number of his customers have not previously owned guns.

As our editor, Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, was among the first to report, the ammunition shortage is also hitting local police departments, who are having trouble keeping enough ammunition on hand to both satisfactorily arm officers and to keep trained and proficient with their weapons.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.hornady.com/support/faqs/product-availability

http://www.news10.net

http://www.naturalnews.com