My brother and I attended a gun show last weekend and I have good news. Bullets are back. Not only was I able to buy all the 9mm rounds I wanted, but my brother found adequate supplies of .380 ammunition as well. Stacks of .223 ammo were also in evidence. Since our government hasn't changed in six months, what has changed? Economics 101 tells us that the marginal utility of the next bullet will be less than the last one. In other words, if I have no bullets to shoot in my pistol, I really, really want the first 10 bullets I can buy at whatever price I find them. The 500th bullet, I will shop around for the best price, and after 1,000 I will probably stop (I think). Manufacturers have been running flat-out since November of 2008, and have finally caught up. Enough Americans have enough ammunition that they feel they secure.
Since the government hasn't changed, why do they feel secure? Is it because we all have 1,000 rounds of our preferred ammunition stockpiled and we can't conceive of a firefight where an additional 200 rounds would have made a difference? No, I think it is because we have renewed confidence in our fellow citizens' good sense. Poll after poll is showing renewed support for our basic right to keep and bear arms. We see efforts to curb gun ownership fall short of needed votes. We see efforts to raise money for the Brady Center in Chicago falling flat. We see regular citizens who haven't protested in their lives stepping out to join others at town hall meetings, TEA parties, and Obamacare rallies calling for less government intrusion in our lives. We are willing to take care of ourselves and our own. Stop spending money the country doesn't have and don't come taxing us for it. Gun ownership is, for many, the first step of taking care of ourselves and our own. It begins with personal safety and security and extends to our community and our state. Before the Great Society we relied on our families, our communities, and our churches to care for our less fortunate, not the federal government.
This is a resilient and generally optimistic country. The majority that sees the glass half full rather than half empty have begun to stand up. One indicator of that to me is piles of ammunition at a gun show.
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Comments
Here's hoping you're right, Dan. I don't know that I can agree on all of that, but I do admire your optimism.
What was your assessment on primers and powder? Up here in Alaska, the regulatory labyrinth of shipping logistics has kept the availability and price of these components well into "stupid" range for a while, and I haven't checked around in a few months.
Good Article, Dan. I'll take this with guarded optimism. Hoping to see the ammo shelves at the gun shops, not just the gun shows, fill up soon. Especially the .380.
Fort Collins, CO
Someone once said that "a lifetime supply of ammunition is one full magazine, plus whatever you can take from the enemy you just killed." Personally, I like having 30 20-round mags ready for my M1A, plus another 2000 rounds in reserve, along with 2000 rounds each of .223, 7.62X39mm, .45, .40, and .380. And 5,000 rounds of .22, and a few hundred each of .38 special, .30-06, 7.62X54R, .32, 30-30, just for future bartering purposes. As a former Boy Scout, I still like to "Be Prepared."
"We see efforts to curb gun ownership fall short of needed votes."
Except in NJ, where I am. Here we stupidly passed a One Gun a Month law on the anniversary of the Heller decision (snuck onto the agenda for the last day of the legislative session, voted on at 1:30 AM, signed into law yesterday, 8/6/09, taking effect 1/6/10) and our honorable governor vowed to make "gun safety" an election year issue. For us, things do not look as bright as they do for the rest of the country.
We NJ gun owners do not have the money to fight the state in court, so incorporation seems to be our last hope. Meanwhile, NJ officials are being arrested left and right on corruption charges and many of them are refusing to resign. "The Soprano State" is a well earned nickname.
Any NJ gun owners out there wanting to join the fight should visit us as NJCSD.org.
I sure hope you are correct Dan. I haven't been able to buy 10mm Auto defensive ammunition since well before I left Lakewood nearly a year ago. Here in Wyoming even .270 hunting ammo is in very short supply.
No joy in my part of Wyoming either. If you don't reload, you are out of luck for most sizes and types of ammunition. I was able to buy 4 bricks of .22LR (at a "sale" price of $20. a box) this week for the first time in almost a year, but the store only got part of a pallet and, of course, had to limit the amounts sold to those who had a "rain check" (written for the 5 box limit) - held for over a month. Nobody else even got a smell.
No .38sp. at all. 9mm and up is almost worth its weight in gold the few times you can find it out in the city. Some rifle ammunition is showing on the shelves now, but the prices are insane.
I hope you are right, but I'm not holding my breath. :(
Whether he is right or not will depend a lot on how the marxists react when their pet proposals are defeated. So far the outrage and name-calling when they are thwarted does not fill me with a lot of confidence that things will not continue to spiral out of control.
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