> An Explanation of the Nationwide Ammunition Shortage
Patriot Games
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
An Explanation of the Nationwide Ammunition Shortage.
Nationwide Ammunition Shortage Hits U.S.
Skyrocketing demand has been emptying the shelves of America's gun
stores. Here's why.
February 28, 2009 - by Bob Owens
If you, like thousands of other Americans, have Googled to find out
why we are in the middle of a nationwide ammunition shortage, you
would have stumbled across this 2007 blog entry.
In it, I corrected a poorly researched Associated Press story by Estes
Thompson that claimed the military’s consumption of ammunition was
responsible for police ammunition shortages here in the United States.
Few things could have been further from the truth, but it seems rather
apparent, in retrospect, that the goal of that AP article wasn’t to
find the truth as much as it was to (falsely) lay blame for the police
ammunition shortages at the feet of George W. Bush.
The real fact of the matter is that the military got the bulk of its
small arms (pistol, rifle, machine gun) ammunition from one contracted
ammunition plant, and that plant wasn’t even running near capacity.
The military’s consumption clearly wasn’t to blame, and anecdotal
evidence and statements from ammunition manufacturers strongly
suggested that police departments themselves caused the 2007
ammunition shortage by purchasing far more ammunition than they had in
the past.
.
But what is causing our current ammunition shortages here in 2009?
Much of the demand comes from continued high law enforcement demand,
the same demand that led to shortages two years ago. Police agencies
around the nation have become more militarized in recent years and two
trends within this militarization have led to greater police
ammunition demand.
An increase in the size and number of paramilitary police units
Once upon a time, highly trained, heavily armed police units with
alphabet-soup acronyms such as SWAT, SRT, SRU, or ERT were generally
found as part of large, metropolitan police departments. Today, law
enforcement agencies of every size — including some university police
forces — have SWAT-type units armed with some combination of
submachine guns, assault rifles, and sniper rifles to add to the
traditional compliment of pistols and shotguns. To become proficient
to the level expected of these units, each officer must fire thousands
of rounds in training every year.
An increase in the use of “patrol carbines” in law enforcement
Some agencies prefer to call them “patrol carbines”; others refer to
them as “tactical rifles.” But whatever you call them, rifles based
upon the AR-15 are becoming increasingly common as a weapon deployed
to police officers outside of SWAT units, for some very logical
reasons. AR-type rifles extend the range at which patrol officers can
engage armed criminals, and because rifles have more practical
accuracy than pistols, they can potentially reduce the number of shots
fired to neutralize a suspect. Paired with the right kind of
ammunition, the .223 Remington/5.56mm caliber rifle also has
surprisingly less over-penetration, theoretically reducing threats to
civilians who might be downrange. Each of these weapons will also
require officers carrying them to fire hundreds of rounds in training
each year, and in a city that rotates rifles from one shift to another
among their patrol units, this can necessitate tens of thousands of
rounds of training ammunition.
Fears of draconian gun and ammunition restrictions
The 2008 elections that saw the Democratic Party extend their power in
both houses of Congress and saw Barack Obama elected president made
gun owners very nervous, and with good reason.
We have a president that has favored gun bans and who desires to
reinstate the horribly flawed 1994 assault weapons ban authored by our
rather dim vice president. We also have radically anti-gun majority
leaders in both the House of Representatives and Senate, and a
Congress quite willing to pass massive, bloated laws without even
bothering to read the contents. Fears of encroachment are certainly
warranted.
Economic instability
As economies become unstable and people lose jobs, crime rates go up.
It is an economic fact of life. Many people who are worried about an
increase in crime arm themselves during economic downturns, leading to
an increased demand for firearms and ammunition.
As a result of all of these factors, manufacturers of firearms and
ammunition saw demand increase to unprecedented levels as civilians
have made a run on the kind of firearms they suspect that gun control
advocates presently in charge will try to outlaw.
This includes all handguns, all semi-automatic rifles (especially
those targeted by the 1994 assault weapons bill that expired in 2004),
and most semi-automatic shotguns.
Matt Reams of Sierra Bullets noted that after the 2008 presidential
election demand shot up 50%-100% for bullets used by handguns or
rifles in military calibers, and says, “Law enforcement has seemed to
increase quite a bit the last year or so. The individuals jumped in
after the elections and pushed our orders over the top when we were
already running in high gear.”
Federal Premium/ATK is the largest ammunition manufacturer in the
world, running the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant for the U.S.
military under contract; it also is a major supplier of law
enforcement and civilians. In a statement, the company noted
“unprecedented demand” for law enforcement ammunition. While other
corporations are presently laying off workers and shutting down
operations, ATK is in the middle of capital improvements to further
increase production capability.
Rick Shoupe of PMC Ammunition, which has a more civilian-focused
market for his company’s products, reflected in his explanation:
Shortly before the presidential election the dam broke as far as U.S.
gun and ammunition sales are concerned. I believe it is a reaction by
the general public because of two main reasons. Number one, the
political environment which results from the attitudes about gun
control in the majority of Congress and the president himself. They
are anti-gun. Number two, the current financial crisis in the U.S. has
added to the frenzy, causing again the general public to want some
sort of personal protection. Just in case they need it.
We are seeing a bubble in demand like I have never seen before and I
have been in this business for 35 years. This demand is in addition to
the military and law enforcement that also continues. PMC has expanded
production to try and handle as much of the demand as it can before
the demand starts to drop. Even so, the first scent of legislation
being introduced to Congress will light another candle in the demand
for these products. It will not end until the legislation is passed.
Individual shooters are stockpiling thousands of rounds of ammunition
because of fears of future punitive taxation or outright bans of
certain kinds of ammunition. Law enforcement agencies are also
stockpiling ammunition to make sure they have enough on hand to meet
training requirements. The shortage we are seeing is the result of
both agencies and private citizens hoarding the most sought-after
ammunition.
Thus, this shortage is the result of an accordion effect that has
developed over the past few years.
Law enforcement agencies have been rapidly increasing their ammunition
consumption because of how they are rearming, causing a permanent
increase in demand. Just as ammunition manufacturers began to cope
with that increase, a second run, based upon a downward-turning
economy and rising fears of laws targeting gun and ammunition,
dramatically expanded demand yet again.
Shortages of ammunition and firearms can be expected to continue for
as long as it appears our overreaching federal government is a threat
to our individual liberties, our economy continues to falter, and our
police agencies keep militarizing.
It’s going to be a long ride.
Stock up while you can.