{"id":49365,"date":"2021-01-22T18:05:27","date_gmt":"2021-01-22T22:05:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=49365"},"modified":"2021-01-22T18:05:27","modified_gmt":"2021-01-22T22:05:27","slug":"americans-scramble-for-ammo-amid-shortage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=49365","title":{"rendered":"Americans Scramble for Ammo Amid Shortage"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cToilet Paper Effect\u201d: Americans Scramble for Ammo Amid Shortage<\/strong><\/h1>\n

<\/p>\n

\u2026the shortage is \u201cgoing to go deep into 2021. That\u2019s a fact. This entire calendar year.\u201d<\/h3>\n

By PFW News<\/p>\n

\"\"

Michael Tefft\/Flickr<\/p><\/div>\n

It is certainly a sign of the times. In 2020, the\u00a0FBI processed a record 39.7 million firearm background checks<\/a>, the most recorded since the agency began keeping tabs in 1998. On top of that, checks exclusively related to the sale of firearms also reached a record high last year, totaling 21 million, according to firearm trade organization National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF).<\/p>\n

The gun and ammo craze, which is being pinned on the COVID-19 crisis, the violent rioting that gripped major cities in recent months, and the new Biden administration, has anyone looking to get their hands on ammunition going to extraordinary lengths as a nation wide shortage strikes the market.<\/p>\n

A recent report out of Florida highlights how far people are going for ammo, and why \u2026<\/p>\n

People started lining up in front of the door at Academy Sports + Outdoors in Lake Mary as early as 2 a.m. on Monday waiting for the doors to open at 9 a.m.<\/p>\n

When FOX 35 News asked several of those in line what they were waiting for, they all answered \u201cammo.\u201d\u00a0 Many voiced that they are afraid of what new gun laws could come under a new administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we all believe Biden is going to take it away from us too,\u201d David Godkin said. \u2013\u00a0Fox 35 Orlando<\/em><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Similar stories are also coming out of Texas where empty shelves that once held ammo now collect dust as supply fails to meet the high demand \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a nationwide hit,\u201d said an employee at\u00a0the Outdoorsmen. \u201cWe\u2019ve been told that there is a nearly billion dollar backup on orders from manufacturers.\u201d<\/p>\n

He thinks that this backup won\u2019t be resolved until the third quarter of 2022 and \u201cthat\u2019s if we\u2019re lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even huge retail stores like Academy have had to limit ammunition\u00a0purchases. \u201cAmmunition Limits: Three Units Overall On All Handgun and Rifle Calibers Per Customer Per Day\u201d states a large sign in Academy\u2019s ammo section of the store. \u2013\u00a0San Angelo Live<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Further highlighting the lengths people are going for ammo is Jordan Sillars of\u00a0MeatEater.com<\/a><\/em>\u00a0\u2026<\/p>\n

Desperate gun owners have driven hours to pick up just a few boxes of .223 Rem. They\u2019ve learned the schedules of ammunition delivery trucks and rotated between store clerks to purchase more than the store\u2019s two-box limit. One of my relatives (who will remain nameless) even asked his friend to stash ammunition in a fishing tackle box while shopping at a local big-box store. When fellow ammo seekers asked my relative where he found two boxes of 9mm among the empty shelves several hours later, he just shrugged and walked away.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Perhaps summing up the ongoing scramble for ammo better than anyone is Mark Oliva, director of public affairs for the NSSF, who compared what\u2019s happening to the hysterical rummage for toilet paper we saw at the start of the Covid-19 scare.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t discount the toilet paper effect that\u2019s going on,\u201d Oliva said in an\u00a0interview with\u00a0Meat Eater<\/em><\/a>. \u201cPeople are concerned they aren\u2019t going to get what they need when they need it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neil Davies, marketing director for ammunition maker Hornady, says that the COVID-19 crisis was a \u201cwatershed moment\u201d for his company that recorded their biggest sales month ever in March.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people started to wonder how COVID was going to impact their lives, they flocked to all kinds of things in order to makes sure they would be taken care of: toilet paper, ammunition, guns, hand sanitizer,\u201d Davies told\u00a0Meat Eater<\/em>.<\/p>\n

When social unrest began in major American cities, the demand for ammunition \u201chit third gear,\u201d says Davies. He would add that the shortage is \u201cgoing to go deep into 2021. That\u2019s a fact. This entire calendar year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adding to the struggle is the price of ammo which has soared over the past year \u2026<\/p>\n

Across town, at Volusia Top Gun, it\u2019s a similar story. On Sunday, the staff showed up at work to find 60 people waiting in line before the store opened.\u00a0 Owner Ron Perkinson said his store is typically full of inventory \u2014 one of the biggest in Florida.\u00a0 While he does have some weapons\u00a0on the shelves, the majority of his gun cases are empty.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

He estimated that his\u00a0business has been up another 100%.\u00a0 Ammunition is the\u00a0biggest seller at Volusia Top Gun.\u00a0 Due to supply and demand, his suppliers have raised their prices so he has had to raise his too.\u00a0 A small box of 9mm ammunition that was selling for $14 maximum at this time last year, is now selling for $37.99 and he can barely keep it stock.\u00a0 He has had to limit the number of boxes he\u2019s selling at times.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could have done 300% more if I had the inventory. I\u2019m turning away a lot of people just for lack of inventory,\u201d Perkinson explained.\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Fox 35 Orlando<\/em><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As\u00a0we highlighted back in November<\/a>, the Biden administration is eyeing gun control measures that could force millions of American\u2019s to collectively cough up tens of billions dollars in taxes as millions of rifles and magazines now in their possession could become subject to a tax under the National Firearms Act.<\/p>\n

The center piece of Biden\u2019s gun plan is to place a ban on the manufacture and sale of \u201cassault weapons,\u201d while bringing the regulation of possession of such firearms under the 1934 National Firearms Act.<\/p>\n

Currently, the NFA of 1934 applies to fully automatics firearms, silencers and short-barreled rifles. But Biden would drag \u201cassault weapons\u201d, meaning semiautomatic rifles, pistols and shotguns (think the AR-15) along with \u201chigh capacity magazines\u201d, which have generally been understood to be magazines that carry more than 10 rounds, under the act.<\/p>\n

According to a National Shooting Sports Foundation\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0on firearm production figures, Americans in total own at least 20 million rifles and 150 million ammunition magazines that would be subject to the NFA regulations if Biden\u2019s plan were put in place.<\/p>\n

Under the NFA, each rifle and each magazine would be taxed at $200 per item, costing American gun owners up to $34 billion dollars.<\/p>\n

While Biden has not been very vocal as of yet in regard to gun control \u2013 but rather focusing on issues such as the pandemic, racism and domestic terrorism \u2013 one could suspect we are only one publicized \u201cmass shooting\u201d away from gun control legislation landing in the\u00a0majority Democrat chambers of congress<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And as far as what new gun control legislation will mean for the supply issues related to ammunition, we likely do not need to explain what this means \u2026<\/p>\n

\"Shelves
Shelves of gun ammunition empty
\n(Brianna Kraemer\/Just the News)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

********<\/p>\n

___
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