With gun nuts hoarding bullets, will cops be disarmed?

[SecularMotion]

Dayne Pryor is the chief of police in Rollingwood, Texas, a small suburb of Austin. “I’ve been in law enforcement for 31 years and I’ve been a chief for eight years,” he sighs. “And it’s just one of those things that I never thought I’d have a problem with, especially being in Texas.”

Pryor’s problem, he explains to Salon, is that he’s having trouble finding ammunition and firearms for his officers, thanks to a national shortage. The cause? A run on supply from gun lovers afraid that Congress or state legislatures will impose new gun control laws in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting.

“Everyone is thinking, they’re going to stop manufacturing, or they’re going to be taxing and all this, so it’s just this mentality of, let’s all buy up everything now just in case. And it hurts us,” Pryor said. “This is ridiculous. This shouldn’t be happening to law enforcement.”

But he’s hardly alone. Rommel Dionisio, a New York-based firearms industry analyst at Wedbush Inc., confirms the trend is a national phenomenon. “Most certainly, ammunition is in very tight supply in addition to firearms,” thanks to “consumer fears of possible bans,” he told Salon in an email.

http://www.salon.com/2013/03/27/cops_are_running_out_of_bullets_thank_the_nra/

[blueknight]

1. i dont understand that

from what i heard, the law enforcement agencies get first dibs on ammo before it ever reaches the store shelves

[FBaggins]

2. I thought so too. But it's likely simple economics.

Unless there's a contractual obligation, the manufacturers will shift supply to places where demand means higher prices.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

5. Not true

They compete in the market with everyone else for it.

Feds have some special laws for strategically required procurements, but using it is damn near impossible these days for over the counter stuff.

[Paul E Ester]

9. I think thats true for large departments

NYPD is something like 20K policemen. The local department with 5-6 cops shops at the local gun store. The departments need to form a coop so they get a volume order in.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

13. I heard it was closer to 30k

After all the mayor needs the "sixth bigest army in the world"!

[holdencaufield]

3. From what I know ...

... most metropolitan PD's only require their officers to train with firearms once a quarter -- and that 50 rounds is the most they are required to fire at that time -- that makes 200 rounds a year.

On the other hand -- I shoot every Sunday -- sometimes straight range, sometimes single-action competition, and sometimes hunting -- and it's not uncommon for me to shoot more than 50 rounds a week -- that makes at least 2,600 rounds a year or more than 10 times what a typical LEO is required to shoot (if I were to add up receipts it would probably be more).

So, it makes sense that civilians, like myself, buy in bulk. It's not hoarding, it's simple economics. Personally, I think that any LEO, who carries a firearm and is required to use it should train at least as often as I.

And it's not the NRA who is spreading the message of potential bans -- it's Mayor Bloomberg, Diane Feinstein and many of our own Democratic representatives.

I guarantee that if the President was speaking out against condoms and there were multiple bills in legislature seeking to ban or limit the purchase of condoms, you see them disappear off the shelves just like guns and gun-related accessories -- simple economics.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

14. When I was sixteen...

...I shot once a week (.22 target rifle practice and competition). When I bought ammo I generally got about 1,500 rounds at a time. That would be generally every 5 - 6 weeks. In college the ROTC sponsored the team and supplied ammo. Usually about 7,000 rounds a month.

At 17 I learned to reload. My org had Garands and I helped reloaded about 1,200 rounds. We also bought another few hundred. About 70 rounds including practice for about 17 - 18 people adds up fast.

[ileus]

4. Government orders are filled first....question should be will there be enough for civilians?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

6. That is a courtesy, not a requirement

[melm00se]

15. if the feds slap

a DPAS rating on their order, they go to the front of the line.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

16. I mentioned that in #5

However, if they are not feds, they have to compete with the rest of us from a legal standpoint.

[Clames]

7. Anti-gun nuts are the ones to blame.

Their shrill cries involving the word "ban" have this effect every time.

[spin]

10. Yup. History repeats itself and some never learn. (n/t)

[JohnnyBoots]

8. Pretty sure that civilian ammo stores

don't equal the BILLIONS of rounds being acquired by DHS and other agencies. This is anti gun propaganda by Salon.

[Clames]

11. You'll have to understand that with that particular poster....

...you aren't to expect much discussion. Seldom even sticks around to defend any Google dump posted. Facts are inconvenient for that one...

[Skip Intro]

17. +100. nt

[sylvi]

12. Maybe they can go over to

Maybe they can go over to Janet Napolitano's house and borrow a cup o' bullets to tide them over.

[LAGC]

18. God willing.

Haven't you seen how many rounds cops waste whenever they attempt to gun down someone? It's spray-and-pray, I tell ya! Dozens of shots fired, lucky if even one or two hits.

Maybe this will teach them to conserve ammo and aim before they fire. That way no bystanders are hit.