Just saw this story over at Yahoo …
America armed, but guns not necessarily loaded
Bullet-makers are working around the clock, seven days a week, and still can’t keep up with the nation’s demand for ammunition.
Shooting ranges, gun dealers and bullet manufacturers say they have never seen such shortages. Bullets, especially for handguns, have been scarce for months because gun enthusiasts are stocking up on ammo, in part because they fear President Barack Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress will pass antigun legislation — even though nothing specific has been proposed and the president last month signed a law allowing people to carry loaded guns in national parks.
XX My take — this ticks me off, as I am a gun owner and shooting enthusiast. What we have here is a threefold problem.
First, last year, the gun and ammo manufacturers used the threat of the election of a Democratic president (Obama) as a way to boost gun and ammo sales. Through indirect sources, they spread the word that “Obama is going to take your guns away!” This was a beautiful, if despicably cynical marketing plan. The Republicans beat this drum as well, trying to peel away votes.
Second, the Department of Defense ended the sale of of expended military brass (bullet casings) to remanufacturers. For its own reasons that have never been fully explained, the DoD required that all brass ammunition would have to be shredded and sold as scrap. This threated a drastic lowering of supplies for ammo. The ban didn’t last long. A firestorm (pardon the pun) of criticism forced the DoD to beat a hasty retreat. But the damage was done. The Obama-paranoid theorists felt vindicated.
And when I say the reasons were never fully explained, here’s the reasoning:
the National Rifle Association announced the decision to rescind sales was one that had been discussed months before — a broad plan to examine all military surplus sales to ensure hardware did not end up being sold eventually to terrorists and used against us.
Look, even if that idea did start back in the Bush administration, how does it make a lick of sense? Do the blowhards in Washington really think the thing that is holding back al Qaeda from killing us is a lack of bullets?
Third, people who are feeling politically disenfranchised are continuing to beat this drum, ginning up more baseless rumors, like the one that the IRS is going to require listing of all your firearms on your 1040 tax form. Who’s starting these rumors, anyway? Is it the gun manufacturers again, the Republicans, or Libertarians? Hell if I know. I can see why some people might be upset and even disgusted with President Obama’s governance, as I’ve laid out in a few posts, but the fear that he’ll take your guns away shouldn’t be one of them.
Meanwhile, bullets (certain types, anyway) are expensive and hard to get. When will this end? Probably when the Spam shortage starts, LOL.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Ammo like gold is not a commodity you should be stocking up on after the horse is out of the barn. If your buying either now you haven’t been paying attention for the past two years.
This article contains information that almost a year old, but it is portrayed as some brand-new newsworthy item. That’s the part I don’t understand. Why is the mainstream press just NOW playing up this year-old frenzy in the gun and ammo business. Strange… Actually, around where I live, you can now walk into a gun store and buy most types of ammo. It’s still slim, but you can get some.
The short answer is the NRA. The NRA is doing a pretty good job of stirring up…. fear. They have called our house to drum up financial support to stop various bills in congress. They use fear as their main tactic to get you to financially commit. So that is one answer to your question. We have five sons, and three of them hunt. They have to mow the lawn to pay for their amo. Lets just say my grass is staying very short, and I don’t see any end to it in the near future.