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zero7one
19 March 2009, 13:41
The Wichita Eagle
March 17, 2009
Tim Potter

Around Wichita, the supply of ammunition -- particularly for handguns -- is not keeping pace with a strong demand. The demand is emptying shelves at the big discount stores and smaller shooting ranges, business owners and gun merchants say.

Despite the slumping overall economy, two Wichita indoor-shooting ranges and a Goddard gun and hunting supply store say they are doing a robust business.

Business is good, they say, because of a mix of political and economic factors.

On the political front, they say, gun owners and enthusiasts appear to be buying more guns and ammo out of concern that President Obama's administration will push for more gun control.

As a result, "Obama has sold more guns and ammunition than anybody in history," said Bill Vinduska, owner of the Bullseye Indoor Shooting Range, 1455 N. Terrace.

And Don Holman, owner of the Bullet Stop indoor shooting range, 2625 W. Pawnee, said there is an economic component. Many gun consumers seem to be concerned that in a bad economy, crime will increase, he said.

"You're seeing a lot of average Joes... worrying about their protection," Holman said. "They feel they need to take more responsibility for their protection."

So the shooting range has become a popular place.

At the Bullseye, "you come in on a weekend and all our lanes are packed from open to close," Vinduska said.

"Everything is selling."

The most popular items seem to be self-defense items, including handguns and ammunition.

At the Goddard Gunnery, which sells mainly hunting supplies but also handguns and ammunition, owner Monte Reese said he has gotten new customers who said they couldn't find ammunition at the big discount stores.

"There does appear to be a shortage through the distribution channels," Reese said. "Certainly... demand is outpacing supply."

In 15 years in business, he said, "we had the best year we've ever had last year."

"We noticed the trend well before the election," he said. "It certainly didn't slow down after the election."

At the Bullet Stop, prices are rising with the demand, Holman said. In the last six months, for example, a box of 50 rounds of one type of ammo has gone from $36 to $53.

The shooting ranges are restricting carry-out sales so they have enough for their range customers.

Holman said he's seeing more couples, more women and more families coming to the shooting range --"just a heavy migration toward an acceptance of firearms in the role it plays in their lives."

David Ewald, spokesman for Minnesota-based Gander Mountain, one of the nation's largest gun retailers, said the company has seen brisk gun and ammo sales for the last six to eight months. Gander Mountain has a store in downtown Wichita.

Part of the gun popularity could well reflect a "back-to-basics" phenomenon where people are pursuing simple recreation like hunting or hobby shooting, Ewald said.

Wichita police have heard of ammunition and gun shortages at the retail level, said department spokesman Gordon Bassham.

Under an annual contract, police are still able to get the guns and ammunition they need for public safety, Bassham said.

"Virtually all of our bullets are shot on the range" for training, he said.

Holman said it's possible that much of the ammunition that is being bought from discount stores is getting sold at higher prices at gun shows.

The high demand and low supply can cause gun owners to hoard --"enough so they feel that they're not going to run out," he said.


Source: http://www.kansas.com/news/local/story/736526.html

zero7one
19 March 2009, 13:44
This is great for the sellers...not the buyers. Unfortunately the comment about rising crime is very accurate. We have definitely seen a rise in burglaries and robberies as of recently.

If you outlaw guns, only the outlaws will have them.

adrenaline151
19 March 2009, 16:58
I went to a few gunshops today looking for ammo. The results were not suprising, but I was surprised to see how much most places had in stock.
Federal "tactical" black box xm193... for a 200 round box was 100$ in one place and 189$ in another. Brown box xm193 was 10$ a box, 500$ per 1k.
Wolf Military Classic was 6.99$ a box at Maine Military Supply, which was decent, so my brother got 5 boxes. I have a case already, so I didn't buy any. I'm looking for m193 or m855. Black box Wolf(62g HP) was another buck a box and 500 rounds(55g FMJ) were 185$. I paid 269$ shipped, for 1k rounds of Military Classic last spring, and I just saw some M855 Prvi for 459$ per 1k.
So the ammo is around, but it doesn't last long in most cases, and it can be costly. My local idiot, I mean, gunshop wants 13$ a box for brown box Fed. XM193F, and he also threw in a "I don't know why anyone would want to buy anything other than Bushmaster".
Anyway, the best place I have found to buy ammo is ammoman.com, but don't go buy it all because I need some. I'd rather spend my money locally, but noone around here seems to be competitive, and when you try to dicker, they get all bent out of shape, not knowing I might be looking to buy 50 boxes. Once they start that crap, they can keep it.
Weaponcraft, ME has some Prvi m193 for 400$ a thousand on their website, but I don't know if it's in stock. I think that may be my next case, I've heard decent things about Prvi.
By the way, basic Bushmaster carbine was running around $1300, DPMS around a grand, Colt 6920 $1700-1800, and one shop had a S&W with no FH, fixed tele-stock and railed forearm for...are you ready.... $1800. The guy behind the counter informed me that the railed forearm "was worth 400 bucks!" I said "wow.", didn't even bother to look at it. This is why Rainier Arms gets my business.
It was an informative day, though, I got to show my brother what improper carrier key and non-existant castle nut staking looked like, courtesy of Bushmaster. He is now even more proud to be a DDM4 owner.

Dutch
19 March 2009, 21:21
Luckily military surplus brass is still available. The old saying of "buy it cheap and stack it deep" is now in full tilt mode.

Dutch

Hojutsu
22 March 2009, 16:41
The most popular shop in my area is rationing some calibers. As an example, .32ACP, 380ACP and a few other popular calibers are rationed to a box per pistol bought . . . at the time of pistol purchase. No exceptions

At this point larger calibers and rifle calibers are short, but not rationed . . . yet

I was also told though that the shop owner knows who has been supporting the shop when times were leaner (pre-Obama) and he will take care of those that have repeatedly bought there

Stickman
22 March 2009, 16:44
I was also told though that the shop owner knows who has been supporting the shop when times were leaner (pre-Obama) and he will take care of those that have repeatedly bought there

Taking care of his customers will cause complaint from some, but those people were always going to run to the cheapest place they could find anyway.