I am an avid conspiracy theorist... but my conclusion is that there is no ammo shortage. There is an unprecedented demand for ammo which depletes stock nearly instantaneously when stock becomes available.
In normal times I shoot a lot... I hunt, I practice, I compete non-profesionally... To give you an idea, in order to be even vaguely competitive in causal IDPA matches I attend an organized IDPA practice session once a month (~200 rounds) and I go to the range and practice by myself once a week (100 rounds) meaning I go through about 600-700 rounds a month to feed just my IDPA habit in normal times... now with the current ammo crisis ammo prices have doubled or tripled and I just cannot afford it... but I am still going through about 200 rounds in a month. And I can still buy ammo all the ammo I want if I am willing to pay the inflated price. I have email alerts set up with about a dozen online ammo suppliers and one or two local shops. When I get an instock alert I immediately go and buy a case with zero delay and about 75% of the time I am not quick enough because every other person is doing the exact same thing. I walked into a store and picked up a case of 9mm, walked to the register and seen 15 other guys in line with a case of 9mm. Everything sells out in an hour or less. EVERYTHING. Online is worse... I have gotten emails saying "150 cases available" and by the time I browse to the website stock says "Only 9 left"
...Name a caliber and I can point you to something in stock right now... does not matter what it is, but it will be very expensive. This is just supply and demand at work. The gun-owning American citizens are preparing for something big.
There were 5 MILLION new gun owners last year.
Combine that with...
42% of the countries homes have at least 1 gun in it. There are 122.8 Million households. (that means roughly 52 million homes have a firearm)
Let's say 20% of gun owners shoot once a month. (10.4 M) They'll likely go through 100 rounds (we'll set this as a base)
That means, every month the U.S. is firing off (roughly) a BILLION rounds. Every month. That also doesn't take into effect the military and their need, and that these suppliers don't JUST sell in the U.S. market. (they're in business to provide but also need to make money to do that).
If anything you could say that the firearms industry is in need of another production plant (or 10) But after 20 years of being blamed for everything form forgetting the milk at the store to climate change.. they're simply basking in a much needed upswing.
All this said (and sourced) there is no conspiracy theory. Just because your supplier(s) have been running low, only niggers rush to the tin foil hat. Just think about the logical and more realistic approaches before flying to conclusions.
(post is archived)