At the gun shop

[spinbaby]

My husband reports witnessing this scene at a gun shop deep in red territory in rural western PA today.

The gun-shop owner and customers are lamenting the shortage of ammunition. The gun-shop owner explains that the shortage is caused by the military taking all the ammo and that this means Obama is planning to start a war.

Someone mentions that there sure have been a lot of people buying a lot of ammo since Obama was elected and maybe this has something to do with the shortage.

"Oh no," says the gun-shop owner, "This is just like before Iraq. An ammo shortage means there's going to be a war."

Then they all start devising ways to buy still more ammo.

[AndyTiedye]

1. Isn't It Different Ammo?

[Tim01]

3. It is different ammo

but some of the ammo producers have taken some of the machines that produce civilian ammo, and now are using them to produce military ammo. Of course, that deepens the civilian shortage.

[ManiacJoe]

32. It is the same ammo.

Depending on what you are shooting....

If you are shooting 9mm handguns or AR-15 style rifles, you are directly competing with the military for ammo. Ammo has been in short supply since the Iraq war started.

If you are shooting something else, you are waiting in line for the ammo manufacturers to stop making ammo for the military and switch the lines over to what you want.

[Tim01]

2. I've never seen a group of people

that didn't have it's own intolerable idiots. Gun shops are no different.


Obama has said quite clearly he would like to get rid of lots of kinds of guns and ammo. A lot of the people on his team agree with him.
That has caused panic buying, and so a shortage.

[ulysses]

7. source?

Obama has said quite clearly he would like to get rid of lots of kinds of guns and ammo.

[Tim01]

11. This is a start.

"Obama and Biden also favor commonsense measures that respect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners, while keeping guns away from children and from criminals. They support closing the gun show loophole and making guns in this country childproof. They also support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent."

http://change.gov/agenda/urbanpolicy_agenda/


He chose to put on his website that he plans to bring back the Assault Weapons Ban AND make it permanent.


Really, this is only the most recent. He has always been clear on subject.


Here we go, lots of quotes here. Clearly hostile toward guns. It isn't like he is trying to keep it a secret.

http://www.sportsmenforobama.org/content/view/14/27/

[vadawg]

12. lol childproof just means that you cant reasonably get to use the weapon even if your life depends

a weapon is only a doorstop if its so secure that when the time comes you cant get at it. I am all for taking precautions but some of the crazy ideas bandied about are exactly that crazy.

[Tim01]

19. It's for the children.

"Oh, crap theres somebody in my house. God, it's 3am. I'm half asleep, foggy. I can't see right. How many of them are there? Where is that cordless phone? Why doesn't the damn phone work? Ok, I have a gun here in this drawer someplace. Christ,it's locked. I can't even see the key hole on the lock in this darkness. Where is the damn key? It has to be here, I'm sure I left it in the drawer.
Maybe if I beg for my life they will give me a chance to turn on the lights and find the key and take off the lock and get this thing in working order."

Amount of time needed for the gun lock? 2 minutes 38 seconds.
Amount of time available to save your life? 23 seconds.

The cops should be here in about 9 minutes after the cell phone call.

[Aristus]

25. Are you sure that it isn't the damage that guns do that he's hostile towards?

I don't like Winter, but that doesn't mean I'm hostile to the rotation of the Earth around the sun... :eyes:

[benEzra]

28. That may be the case...

but if a ban on modern-looking rifles is the answer, "what can we do about gun violence" wasn't the question. Only about 3% of U.S. murders involve any type of rifle, regardless of what the receiver looks like or what color the stock is.

[pocoloco]

8. And not get reelected?

Don't think so.

[stillcool]

4. Maybe the gun shop owner...

is going out of business.

[notesdev]

14. Doubt it

Gun sales are pretty much the only business that is thriving these days. Sales are through the roof.

I have no opinion on whether or not Obama will start a war (I believe one will start pretty soon anyway, we may or may not be involved), but the ammo shortage is definitely from panic buying and hoarding.

Stock tip: SWHC

[stillcool]

20. mistake on my part...

[Hoopla Phil]

5. The current ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghan land has caused

a serious drop in the availability of military surplus ammo. This has led to lots more people buying commercial ammo. That was true long before President Obama was on the scene. Now couple that with Some of Obama's positions on guns from his web sites and the so called Ammunition Accountability Act and you have just pored gasoline on a fire.

The ammo shortage is real for a couple of reasons. President Obama gearing up for another war is NOT one of them.

[RB TexLa]

6. I'd be telling them the same thing if I owned a gun shop

And that Bobby Rush's gun control law is going to be signed in secret next week. Better buy them now!

[zanne]

9. Hell Yeah.

You wouldn't want to be caught without enough ammunition to fight an army or two.

[benEzra]

23. Or to shoot a few matches without running out.

Last time I checked, none of the nearly-third-of-a-billion guns in U.S. homes were being used to fight wars recently. We do, however, go through several billion rounds annually in recreational and competitive target shooting.

[zanne]

24. Ummm....That was sarcasm, benEzra.

Juvenile, I admit. But useful at atimes.

[AndyTiedye]

16. No Recession For Them!

[vadawg]

10. pain in the ass, i dont have to buy ammo for my handguns

but i was looking to buy a carbine, but its like theres a bottleneck somewhere on the market, guess ill just buy more 12 gauge instead.

[serrano2008]

13. Uh oh...everybody stock up on your buckshot just in case Obama starts a war.

Yeehaw!

[AndyTiedye]

15. …on Bambi

[zagging]

17. Not much different than gas. It's all about futures.

Perception is the rule when dealing with futures.

[wartrace]

18. A local gun store has a prominent picture of President Obama displayed.

The caption? "Salesman of the year". It is really simple, people perceive they will be unable to buy what they want in the future so they buy it all now. Supply & demand.

[doc03]

21. Exactly, The military has nothing to do with any ammo shortage

people are worried that Pres. Obama is going to tax the hell out of ammo the rumor is 500% increase in prices. Another rumor going around is Pres.Obama is going to make the manufacturers use powder that deteriorates in a short time to prevent people from stockpiling ammo. A salesman at Cabela's told me yesterday they have no problem getting ammo it's just bought up soon as they put it on the shelf, people are buying it by the case. Another dealer told me people with money have been buying up anything they think may be classified as an assault weapon. I bought an semi-auto pistol myself and so far have only found one 20 round box of ammo for it. The gun and ammo business has never had it better, it seems to be the only bright spot in the economy. I saw a picture of Pres. Obama naming him salesman of the year in a gun shop myself the other day. You know I don't blame people either a lot of us voted for the President because he claimed to support gun rights. I am starting to have my doubts now.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

22. Yeah, there are a lot of idjts around here.

I was surprised Obama did as well as he did in western PA.

[NeedleCast]

26. Because Soooooooo many civilian weapons use 5.56mm rounds

What an idiotic comment buy the gun shop owner. The military basically uses two types of rounds...5.56mm rifle ammo and 9mm pistol ammo. Runs on any other type of ammo are not the fault of the military, it's the fault of a small collection of neocons scared that Obama is coming to take their guns (and ammos).

[benEzra]

27. By far the most popular civilian centerfire rifle caliber in the USA is 5.56x45mm/.223 Remington,

which the most popular civilian centerfire rifle in the United States (AR-15 platform) is chambered for. 7.62x39mm/.30 Russian Short is in second place (SKS, civilian AK lookalikes) in terms of annual sales, followed by 7.62x51mm/.308 Winchester. The most popular civilian centerfire handgun caliber is 9x19mm. And that has been the case for years.

The present run on rifle ammo actually dates back to 2005, when a lot of people decided having a little more on hand was wise in light of the ammo sales suspension and gun confiscation that went on in New Orleans. The spike in EBR sales in 2008 made it much worse, though (lots of new ammo buyers), and the ensuing shortages probably led to the run on less common calibers.

[Jackson1999]

31. Yes..but

The supply of lead caused by the war in Iraq, and demand by China has led to increased prices and less availability.

[Aristus]

29. Anyway, how can your kid shoot himself in the head with an Uzi unless you have ammo?

Line up, everybody...

[TWiley]

30. Won't selling more guns and ammo make America Safer?

[jmg257]

33. Depends who's buying, but likely not to make much of a difference either way. nt

[Pavulon]

34. No addressing root cause would, but that takes real effort, not BS gun laws.(nt)