The great gun buy after the Sandy Hook shooting

[fdsman]

For our US based members,

How many of you have noticed a severe increase in sales in your local gun shops? The walls of the three closest gun shops to me are barren, completely void of anything in .223/5.56 and most other popular rifles in other calibers are also gone.

Not to mention magazines and ammo.

I myself got in on this madness. A few weeks before the shooting happened I had ordered some 30 round factory mini 14 mags from an online retailer that had a special going, 30 bucks a mag, which is the lowest anywhere online (online typically sells for 50-55).

Just last weekend I sold all of them for 60 bucks each.

[rationtin440]

Well fdsman, here in the PDRM (People's Demokratik Republik of Massachusetts), I've seen similar stuff going on with local gun stores, however the Walmart in a town to the southwest of me has decided to no longer sell ammunition as their contribution to the "effort." Instead of putting the remainder of the ammo on markdown or special deals, the managers shipped it all back to wherever they got it. In a gunstore the next town over from me there was nearly a confrontation when a state trooper and a local cop started laughing at people who were buying guns and ammo, calling them idiots and saying they'll be the first ones that are "visited" when the time comes. I also heard the state trooper remark that pretty soon the U.S. will be like most of Europe; only the police will have guns and the violent crime rate will plummet! Riiiiiight, and "The Bedford Incident" was a true story.

[fdsman]

Well fdsman, here in the PDRM (People's Demokratik Republik of Massachusetts), I've seen similar stuff going on with local gun stores, however the Walmart in a town to the southwest of me has decided to no longer sell ammunition as their contribution to the "effort." Instead of putting the remainder of the ammo on markdown or special deals, the managers shipped it all back to wherever they got it. In a gunstore the next town over from me there was nearly a confrontation when a state trooper and a local cop started laughing at people who were buying guns and ammo, calling them idiots and saying they'll be the first ones that are "visited" when the time comes. I also heard the state trooper remark that pretty soon the U.S. will be like most of Europe; only the police will have guns and the violent crime rate will plummet! Riiiiiight, and "The Bedford Incident" was a true story.

It's coming down to the point where a lot of sane, law abiding gun owners are talking about the possibility of civil war.

[Ruleryak]

Guns are all well and good, but don't forget ammo! I'm finding that EVERYONE is running out of ammo. I've currently got a few orders in that aren't going to ship until May! Some companies don't want to backorder that far out so they're just shutting down sales in the meantime. AmmoMan, CheaperThanDirt, MidwayUSA, BulkAmmo, SurplusAmmo, AimSurplus, Cabela's and just about everyone else out there is out of all major calibers. I went to Sportsmans Warehouse, Bob Wards, all of our pawn shops and our local ranch supply store Murdoch's here in Bozeman, MT and the shelves are empty. They're talking months of zero-stock before resupplying. The US Gov (via the Department of Homeland Security) has purchased 1.6 Billion (with a B) rounds of ammo in the last few months, sucking up what little supply there is.

With the talk of new laws that would require background checks just to buy ammo, we're seeing the biggest run on rounds ever recorded in the US. Far worse than the post-2008-election ammo buyup. If these bills pass, I can only imagine how much more expensive ammo will get. When a store has to pay an employee to review and submit federal paperwork and wait on the phone for half an hour with the FBI while the background check is processed it's going to add to the cost of the ammo. Plus there's the whole push to ban online ammo sales entirely, meaning all sales would have to be done in person. Right now I can take ammo from the shelf to the cash register, pay at the counter (worked by a college kid most likely) and walk out the door. If the anti-gun folks get their way that transaction would change from 1 minute and involving just a regular employee to taking 30 to 45 minutes minimum and involving a Federal Firearms License holder.

Thankfully I got my order in for 7.62x39mm FMJ (brass, non-corrosive) while I could still get rounds for 22 cents each. The average price is already 55 to 60 cents for steel cased bi metal rounds (much lower quality than what I bought) and what I snagged is already over a buck a round if you can find it.