Monday - May 04, 2009

Bullet Points

Gun shops across the country are reporting a run on ammunition, a phenomenon apparently driven by fear that the Obama administration will increase taxes on bullets or enact new gun-control measures.

“In the last two months it’s gotten very, very difficult to find ammunition,” says Richard Taylor, manager of The Firing Line, a gun shop and shooting range in the Denver, Colorado, suburbs.

“There are a lot of rumors floating around that the present government would like to increase taxes on ammunition. I think [there is] just a lot of panicked buying going on.”

“People are buying cases or whatever they can get their hands on and putting it away, absolutely,” he says. “The only way that this shortage can have to do with it is that people are buying and hoarding.”
...
Jim Minardi, a gun dealer in Lakewood, Colorado, says only a few people are actually hoarding. But they are buying up so much ammo that there isn’t much left on the shelves.

“The minority of our customers are stockpiling ammunition,” Minardi says. “The majority are standard shooters buying what they can.”

Each year U.S. ammo manufacturers make about 8 billion rounds, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the firearms and ammunition industry. Current production data won’t be in until late May, but the foundation expects the numbers to be way up.

“In order to keep up with demand for ammunition, manufacturers are working at full capacity, 24-7,” says Ted Novin, an NSSF spokesman. “Currently demand for ammunition is outpacing supply.”

Novin says he believes the reason is clear. “The increase in demand for firearms and ammunition is largely attributable to gun owner concerns regarding the current political climate,” says Novin, referring to the Obama administration and the Democrat-controlled Congress.

“Many of the lawmakers in power have a long history of supporting legislation that violates the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans,” Novin adds. “Gun owners recognize this and are reacting accordingly.”

A message from Steve Hornady, president of Hornady Ammunition, on the company’s Web site reads:

“Here at Hornady Manufacturing we are breaking our own production records in an attempt to keep up with customer demand. We have added extra shifts, machinery and we are also in the process of expanding our manufacturing plant.”
...
Winchester Ammunition posted a similar statement:

“Winchester Ammunition, like other ammunition manufacturers, has seen the demand for our products increase significantly since last fall. To meet that increased demand, our operations are running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”

Andrew Arulanandam, communications director of the National Rifle Association, says the “unprecedented ammo shortages are widespread, and they affect small and large retailers.”

“We have heard from members across the country in cities and in small towns from California to Maine,” Arulanandam says. “There is a fear that Congress or the new administration will push for a firearm or an ammunition ban, or for a significant increase in excise taxes on firearms and ammunition. We hear this from hunters, target shooters and even from first-time gun owners who fear that there will be an effort to incrementally curtail and eventually dismantle this freedom.”

Let’s see ... 8 billion rounds a year, and there hasn’t been much ammo available since September, and now it’s May. Call it 8 months ... 8/12 = 2/3, 2/3 of 8 billion is 5.33 billion ... Egad. And there’s no way to even begin to estimate the increased production numbers ... but I’ll take a tiny little guess ...

Americans have purchased and stockpiled more than 6 BILLION rounds of ammunition in the last 8 months.

And in other, related firearms news ...

Ruger sales up 55%. Company declares HUGE stock dividend. Profits nearly DOUBLE.

Gross profit rose to $19.5 million from $10.7 million in the corresponding period last year. Operating income surged to $9.4 million from $2.3 million in the same period last year.
Backlog rose to 458,900 units and $136.3 million at the end of the recent quarter from 175,900 units and $47.8 million at the end of the corresponding period last year.

Olin 1Q profits up 25%; due to Winchester ammo sales spike:

“Winchester achieved the highest level of quarterly earnings in its history, reflecting the continuation of the stronger than normal demand that began in the fourth quarter of 2008,” said Joseph Rupp, chairman, president and chief executive, in a statement.

NY state assembly continues to try and push for microstamping gun law. Because “no killer has a right to hide behind a blank shell casing.” Too bad they don’t realize that, if passed, this law could be defeated with a plastic sandwich bag and a bit of duct tape. Or the firing pins could be filed down a bit. Or that such a law could add hundreds of dollars to the price of new guns, and with several hundred million old guns already out there, it will do exactly diddly squat to prevent crime or help track down guns used in crime. And it will cost the taxpayers more billions. Stupid left wing monkeys.

Posted by Drew458     on 05/04/2009 at 03:17 PM   
Filed Under: • Guns and Gun Control •  
• Comments (9) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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