Locked and (un)loaded
Sunday, October 18, 2009
By:Adam Crisp (Contact)
timesfreepress.com
Guns have been selling at a fast pace around the nation and, regardless of what's motivated the grabfest, some shooters are finding it hard to get their hands on ammunition.
And what's available is costing a whole lot more than it did a year ago, sportsmen say.
The market appears to be improving, but locally some gun shops are finding it hard to keep up. At Sportsman Supply and Services on Hixson Pike, store owner Carl Poston is struggling to keep certain ammunition in stock.
"The reasons are all economic and political," he said. "When the economy goes south, people start stockpiling, and some people are worried about potential tax increases."
Ted Novin, a spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation in Newtown, Conn., said demand for ammunition is outpacing the supply.
"In order to keep up with demand for ammunition, manufacturers are working at full capacity 24 hours a day, 7 days a week," he said.
Mr. Novin said fears over tax increases have been brought on by Internet campaigns that claim President Barack Obama is interested in hiking taxes on guns and ammunition. Demand for ammunition cranked up just before the November presidential election, he said.
"The continued increase in demand for firearms and ammunition throughout the United States is clear and is largely being driven by the political concerns of gun owners," Mr. Novin said.
Democrats deny that President Obama has any interest in hiking taxes on guns, and the president has not mentioned such a tax since taking office.
Despite that, weapons and ammunition have been selling at a feverish pace across the country, and prices are roughly 50 percent higher than this time last year.
Mr. Poston said this is the worst ammunition shortage he's seen in his 25 years in the business. He called President Obama the gun industry's salesman of the year.
But this isn't the only ammunition shortage in recent memory. About 18 months ago, at the peak of an Iraq war troop surge and at a time when demand for metals worldwide was at its height, ammo manufacturers were struggling to keep the consumer markets satisfied, records show.
FBI BACKGROUND CHECKS
Data released by the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System reported 1,093,230 checks in September 2009. The figure is a 12.4 percent increase from the 973,003 reported in September 2008.
NICS 2009 vs. 2008:
September up 12.4 percent
August up 12.3 percent
July up 8.4 percent
June up 18.1 percent
May up 15.5 percent
April up 30.3 percent
March up 29.2 percent
February up 23.3 percent
January up 28.8 percent
December up 23.8 percent
November up 41.6 percent
Source: National Shooting Sports Foundation |
