Gun owners are stocking up on so much ammo, suppliers can't keep up.

[kpete]

That's a problem? Of course not! Gun owners are responsible, mature people. Especially those who are buying up every single round they can find because of totally unfounded fears that Obama will ban their guns.

more:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/05/04/ammo.shortage/index.html

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/no-one-could-predict-any-problems-with.html

[Turbineguy]

1. This may become self-fulfilling.

With signs like that.

[lazer47]

2. In one sense you are right,, some of us gun owners are indeed

mature, responsible,adults and not "right wing nut jobs",,If you took away the "right wing nut jobs" guns,, remember they are still nut jobs,, guns didn't make them that way..

[Aristus]

13. No, but guns make them dangerous. If a right-wing nut job comes at me with a Q-Tip

that's not gonna bother me much...

[X_Digger]

3. SoS Clinton, AG Holder, DHS Sec Napolitano, Pa Gov Rendell..

All have been saber rattling for a new Assault Weapon Ban. Most were smacked down quickly by the whitehouse after a vociferous backlash on one hand, but the endorsement of a new AWB was left on whitehouse.gov until a couple of days ago.

There are 'ammunition tracking' bills in a bunch of states (though most seem to be stuck, thank goodness); HR 45 was introduced 9 days into 2009; Lautenberg & Feinstein introduced a new gun control bill asking congress to step in between the private sales of firearms between state residents; President Obama pressed for ratification of a 1997 treaty that, under some interpretations, could outlaw home reloading or building of firearms; New York state assembly is considering 'recalls' of some guns and ammunition tracking / licensing for everyone..

Gee, I don't know how anyone would think that at the very least an AWB might be on the horizon.

[gratuitous]

4. Scared little boys and girls

Clutching their toys close to them to ward off the frightening black man.

[slackmaster]

5. The Astute Gun Owner (TM) stocked up on ammo years ago when it was reasonably priced

I have two unopened crates of .30-'06 from the Civilian Marksmanship Program sitting under my computer desk, and full boxes or sealed metal cans of calibers for pretty much every firearm I own.

Other than black powder, percussion caps, flints, and soft lead balls, I haven't bought any ammunition in about two years.

[pecwae]

11. True.

The price is making it hard to get in much range time since I don't do reloading.

[underpants]

6. An unbelievably effective marketing campaign

like it or not (I don't care) gun and ammo makers have found a way to increase revenues in a economic downtime

[AlphaCentauri]

20. remember when everybody was buying duct tape, water and can food

fear works

[underpants]

21. Shrink wrapped houses-I remember it well

we had a discussion about this on DU and I wondered how the toilet would work without air for the gravity feed

[msongs]

7. there ya go again picking on the white racists with guns and fear of a black president nt

[X_Digger]

8. I think..

..your record has a scratch- you're stuck in that race card groove.

[konnichi wa]

12. I hope you are not implying that anyone who owns guns and

supports the bill of rights is a racist.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

48. No, but those who joke (joke?) about "hunting liberals" ARE. -nt

[aikoaiko]

33. That is some grade-A race baiting right there.

:applause::applause::applause::applause::applause::applause:

[BlooInBloo]

42. Yup.

[L0oniX]

9. We are not all buying ammo for that reason. I use 200 rounds everytime I go to the range.

I gets expensive at $8.95 (Walmart) per 50 box of 9mm and @ 200 rounds per range visit @ once a month it can add up. People who are buying up all the ammo because their unfounded fear are making it hard for me and others who only want to keep up their skills. Walmart runs out of everything they get on the same day they get new stock and normal gun shops sell a box of 50 for $18.95. I have given up on finding 9mm at Walmart and put in an order for 1000 rounds of reload for $135.

It's too bad people here are attacking the responsible "mature" gun owners and they should realize that approximately 50% of DU members own guns. When you mock ALL gun owners all you are doing is helping to divide the community and divide the Dem party with all the anti gun posts and attitudes here on DU. There are plenty of examples of people using guns for defense that never get the light of day here on DU. Just Google "gun defense" and you'll find http://www.claytoncramer.com/gundefenseblog/blogger.html and many other sites.

[RamboLiberal]

15. I'm pissed at the hoarders because they are making it tough

for those of us who enjoy gun competitions or just time at the range.

What 9mm are you buying for $8.95 a box? Everything I buy seems to be $12.99 or better. If I can find it.

BTW, right now I applaud those retailers who limit box purchases per day so everyone gets a chance at a couple of boxes.

Fortunately for me I found a reliable local commercial reload shop to get me through the summer competition season, plus just from buying a couple of boxes every pay for last few years I had a safety stock built up.

[L0oniX]

24. Walmart 9mm Blazer $8.95 ...limit 4 boxes

[aikoaiko]

38. my area Wal-marts are only limiting ammo to 6 boxes

ha ha.

;)

[Proud Liberal Dem]

10. Well, we know at least one part of the economy is doing particularly well right now.

I do wonder, though, what they will do when "gungrabageddon" fails to actually, you know, happen?
:shrug:

[slackmaster]

14. I've been working the issue actively for over 15 years, and I can tell you what will happen

There are some devout "gun grabbers" who will never give up - Senator Feinstein and Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy to name two. As long as they are active in politics, those two and several others will send out just enough signals that they are working on gun bans, to keep the chili stirred up on both sides.

It will never end.

[benEzra]

27. Breathe a sigh of relief, and keep going to the range.

My wife and I are still shooting ammunition we bought before the current price increases (back when 7.62x39mm was $1.75 per box of 20, and $100 for a 1200-round case). That's now $8.00 a box locally, if you can find it.

A gun, properly maintained, will last a thousand years, and ammunition will probably last a century or two. Ammunition won't "go bad" even if it takes a few years to use it up.

[Xenotime]

16. What a horrible graphic.

I am offended that you put that in your post.

[anigbrowl]

29. It's relevant to the discussion, as it's an incitement to violence

I worry a lot more about this than I did about Fox sticking a clipart picture of a gun next to a picture of Obama to illustrate some web article. Tehre's a guy down the street from me has the 'terrorist hunting permit' on the back of his pickup. I didn't like those either, but figured it wasn't worth making an issue out of as the inevitable comeback would be 'Well I'd shoot a terrorist, it's patriotic - you like terrorists or something?' It disturbs me to see this repurposed for political ends.

[pipoman]

34. It has been around for decades

repurposed with nearly every race, creed, color, and political stripe. I remember seeing it 30 years ago.

[anigbrowl]

44. That's a good point, but it's no less offensive for that

I do think it's relevant to the discussion, as those who are amused by this sticker are also likely to be in the bulk ammo purchase demographic (the reverse is not necessarily true).

[pipoman]

45. True, no less offensive,

but lets be honest...the right doesn't have a lock on racist, sexist, anti-religious, tasteless humor.

[anigbrowl]

47. Absolutely. Reflexive uncivility towards those with different views is sadly widespread.

I'm guilty myself sometimes. Other times, It's considered rather than reflexive, I feel OK about those :-)

[ensho]

17. women should be in charge of bullets. men can have the guns and

women would be in control of bullets.

would stop a lot of murders and mayhem.

men want guns because they are afraid of each other.

[konnichi wa]

19. Good idea. They could withhold bullets instead of sex to get that new dishwasher.

:eyes:

[ensho]

22. or withhold both

nt

[benEzra]

28. A third of U.S. gun owners are women.

Are you making the 1950-esque assumption that gun ownership is a "man thing"?

My wife obtained a carry license before I did (and she is more competent than the average male shooter, methinks).

[slackmaster]

31. That's one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read on DU

And sexist.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

18. In these time, I'm glad I'm a Democrat and not a Liberal!

The way cnn and other news(?) stations report, the two party system is republicans and Liberals. That's all I here, Liberals did this and Liberals did that :mad:










(do I need a sarcasm thing here?)




EDIT.... I guess I should have read the stupid sign...

[jmg257]

23. Not a problem - unless you need ammo. Then it sucks big time! n/t

[benEzra]

25. Ummm....

Nationwide, roughly half of gun owners are Dems and indies, although the Karl Roves of the world would certainly love for you think that anyone who supports gun ownership is a repub.

Do you believe that concerns of a new "assault weapon" ban being passed are totally irrational and unfounded? How about ammunition microstamping? Suspension of "assault weapon" ammunition imports from eastern Europe by trade agreement?

Those proposals may indeed not happen---and one certainly hopes they won't---but the MSM and more than a few Third Way/DLC corporatocrats are spending quite a bit of time and money pushing them, so hedging against the possibility is not irrational. Tens of millions of gun owners were burned by the 1994 Feinstein idiocy, and are not so naive as to think that such a thing could not happen again.

[Raskolnik]

26. I notice that the OP has no interest in this thread other than trying to start a flame war. n/t

[Union Yes]

30. May their purchases spur economic growth..

which will help economic recovery and lead to Obama winning '12 by a landslide.

Then we can thank gun nuts for helping Obama win again!

Peace

[aikoaiko]

32. "unfounded fears that Obama will ban their guns" -- your credibility took a hit with that one.

Candidates Obama and Biden campaigned on reauthorizing the so called Assault Weapons Ban which would have made it impossible for law abiding folks to purchase new certain popular rifles, shotguns and pistols in certain configurations and with certain accessories.

Until recently their commitment to reauthorizing the ban was on http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/urban_policy.

[Paladin]

35. So Vote For Sarah Palin Next Time Around...... (n/t)

[konnichi wa]

36. Well, the way you insult gun owning Democrats, you may get your wish.

Thanks for shitting on the Constitution.

[aikoaiko]

37. Nice response to a post that confronted an obvious distortion of reality in the OP with the truth.

Palin? Perhaps you didn't notice, but the adminstration is quietly backing away from the AWB.

I'm pretty sure that the massive gun and ammo buying surge has demonstrated that gun owners are motivated to maintain their access to certain arms and ammo. If people are motivated to spend their hard earned money on extra guns and ammo during these economic times then any politician is right worry about voters' wrath at the polls should they enact legislation to ban popular firearms.

So, as it turns out, we (Democratic supporters of the right to keep and bear arms) need to keep the pressure on in order to help our party leaders get correct on this issue.

I'm not naive though. Obama's position hasn't really changed and there is still good reason to worry about selective Federal gun bans. But because of the gun/ammo buying surge and forthright criticism of support for an AWB, we have less to fear now than we did 3 or 6 months ago.

[Moses2SandyKoufax]

39. What makes you think he didn't this last time? n/t

[friendly_iconoclast]

40. Umm, his sig that says "Karl Marx was and still is right"?

Don't know of too many Pubbies that speak well of 'Capital' Karl....

[Moses2SandyKoufax]

41. cause on the internet

everyone is who they claim to be!

[hunter]

43. I'm thinking it's more like a hot export market.

Drugs in, guns and ammo out.

[pipoman]

46. This is EXACTLY the same

phenomenon which occurred the last time sweeping, dramatic gun control legislation was being endlessly purposed in DC. In the early part of President Clinton's first term this very thing happened. The Clinton administration and Dems began rattling the sabers against gun rights, purposing ammo and primers with a limited shelf life, and bans on types of firearms. The result was gun, ammo, and reloading material became more difficult to get, people were binge buying and stock piling. Prior to these early 1990's events, nobody heard a thing of militias. Suddenly nearly every state and many counties had groups of citizens calling themselves militias. Guess what happened? The Clinton administration got the idea, they accepted a completely watered down (from what they were proposing) 1994 AWB and enactment of NICS, then abandoned the issue for the rest of the Presidency. I believe President Obama is beginning to understand that what works in Chicago will not work in the US at large.

Oh, and OP, you can pretend that the gun and ammo purchasers which are causing this shortage are all rightwing extremist freepers if you want...if it makes you feel better...