The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: Hazcat on March 13, 2009, 09:05:38 AM
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One shop says the "hoarding" of ammunition since Obama's election has created a shortage.
A Ruger .380, a popular concealed-carry weapon, is seen Thursday with .380 (left), 9 mm, .40 and .45 caliber bullets. The gun sells for $329. SHERRY BROWN/Tulsa World
By KELLY BOSTIAN World Outdoors Writer
Published: 3/13/2009 3:28 AM
Last Modified: 3/13/2009 8:46 AM
Four months after the election of President Barack Obama, firearms and ammunition sales in Tulsa remain at a fever pitch.
Popular self-protection ammunition is often sold out at local stores, weapons are flying off shelves and the state reports an 87 percent increase in concealed carry permit applications for February 2008 over February 2009.
"People are hoarding. They're creating a shortage," Jim Prall at Sports World on 41st Street said of ammunition sales. "We've sold more ammunition in the last three months than we sold last year."
Gun sales spiked in November with the election of Barack Obama and Democrats adding to their majority in Congress. But local gun dealers say the spike is turning into a steady climb with political worries about gun rights as well as worries about the economy and potential for increased crime.
Prall said his store planned ahead for the increase, having seen a similar spike after Bill Clinton was elected, but the previous jump in sales pales in comparison to what's happening now.
"Most we're selling now we got back in September, but we bought pallets then where normally we wouldn't have ordered that much."
The surprise sales come with .380 caliber semi- automatic pistols. A relatively small self-protection weapon, it's not one that people typically fire in great quantity at the firing range, Prall said. Yet, the ammunition is now hard to find. "Nobody would have predicted that," he said.
"What's happened is everybody is afraid because the Democrats are anti-gun," said David Stone, president of Dong's Guns and Ammo on East Admiral Place.
Internet chatter about bills in Congress that would create additional taxes on firearms and ammunition components, require strict licensing and ban more types of so-called "assault weapons" add to the concern, Stone said. "That's just driving everyone into panic mode," he said. "We're selling 10 times the ammo we used to."
Similar bills have come up in Congress before, but few have advanced.
"We ran completely out here of 9 mm and .380," said Johny Mathews, product and service manager at the U.S. Shooting Sports Academy on East 66th Street North. "We were begging, borrowing and stealing from wherever."
Concealed-carry classes at the academy are booked through April. "We used to do 15-person classes, and now we do 24 because of the demand," he said.
Mathews believes that politics are partly to blame, but the economy also has people worried.
"It's 50/50, I think" he said. "When people lose jobs and get desperate, good people can sometimes do bad things. People hear more about home invasions, robberies, and they think it will only get worse. Then they're afraid they might lose their guns or ammo, so they stock up."
Sales are so intense that Stone has limited sales of .380 ammo to one box per customer at Dong's. He has .380-caliber handguns for sale, and likes to be able to sell ammunition to whoever buys a gun, he said.
A shipment of 10 Ruger .380 LCP handguns was sold in 24 hours this week — seven the first day, three the next. "Last week I had 28 boxes of .380, rationed to one per person, and it was gone in three days," Stone said.
Academy Sporting Goods stores also are low on .380 ammo. "The other day we got 16 boxes of .380 and a guy came in first thing and bought all 16," said Jon Ide, hunting and fishing sales associate at the 41st Street store. "A few people are doing all the buying, and it's the people who are trying to just get a box or two that can't find any."
The increased sales comes with an increase in Oklahomans seeking concealed-carry permits.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation pulled in additional help last month so it could process concealed-carry permit applications within the required 90 days, according to the supervisor of the self-defense licensing unit. Unit workers do not release their names.
The 87.2 percent increase for February 2009 over the same month last year was partially due to renewal applications for permits issued three and five years ago. But new applications have steadily risen in the past three years, and increased markedly since November, she said.
She couldn't share the monthly breakdown on numbers, but as an indication of the volume said the state issued a total of 18,510 permits in 2008. The bureau's annual reports show the state issued 16,426 permits in 2007 and 9,529 in 2006. There are 75,525 valid active concealed-carry permits in Oklahoma, she said.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=20090313_11_A1_ARuger442781&allcom=1
comments at link
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As much of it is "hording" I think, & people working in gun shops may confirm or not. As much, or even more of the sales are first time buyers! I see a LOT of them in the shops I go to, and know three people who've purchased their first guns ever in just the last few months when they would say "its not safe to have a gun in your home" not that long ago!
Guns are like electricity. VERY dangerous if you dont understand and respect them! Both VERY usefull tools, & something most of us wouldnt want to live in a home without either.
To all the newbies out there. WHEEWW HOO! You've made a huge step in becoming a more useful part of the U.S. & global society (assuming that your planning on using that new gun responsibly! :)) Got questions? Need help? Speak up!
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As much of it is "hording" I think, & people working in gun shops may confirm or not. As much, or even more of the sales are first time buyers! I see a LOT of them in the shops I go to, and know three people who've purchased their first guns ever in just the last few months when they would say "its not safe to have a gun in your home" not that long ago!
Guns are like electricity. VERY dangerous if you dont understand and respect them! Something most of us wouldnt want to live in a home without either. :)
To all the newbies out there. WHEEWW HOO! You've made a huge step in becoming a more useful part of the U.S. & global society (assuming that your planning on using that new gun responsibly! :)) Got questions? Need help? Speak up!
It's safe to say you are speaking for ALL of us when you say that.
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I was acused of hoarding the other day by a salesperson where I purchased a lot of ammo (in his eyes) this year. He was making fun of "people like me" and my purchase of 1,000 rounds of each 9 mm and .40 S&W the week before and the fact I was looking for more of a few calibers including those two. Hoard Hell ... I've only got 950 rounds left of the two thousand rounds of 9 mm I've purchased this year! I'd reload if I could find any primers, but ammo is the easiest to find right now :(
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"acused of hoarding the other day by a salesperson" Not getting paid on commision is he!?!?
Only thing I'd like to ask others who "have an ample supply" would be that they consider the benefits of sharing it with those less fortunate in a crisis. Two guns firing 500 rounds of ammo are better than one with a thousand.
Having a bunch of ammo is no different than buying life insurance policies. The insurance is just "after the fact". Dont hear people with million dollar insurance pollicies being called "hoarders" do you???
Hoard - the acquisition of, and failure to discard, a large number of possessions that appear to be useless or of limited value."
So many things about that word chap me!
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Handgun ammo is scarce but shotgun ammo is readily available.
Much prefer a scattergun in a tense situation anyway...at least at home....
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My favorite quote:
"Handguns are only good to fight your way back to the long gun you shouldnt have left to begin with".
"a .22 in your pocket is better than the .44 you left at home"
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I have 38s and 20 ga and .44 mag along with .223s and AR mags other odds and ends for firearms I don't have any more. I figure good barter material or trades down the road. I haven't "hoarded" any ammo really just enough to stave off 1 hoard of zombies, and I figure to confiscate any firearms and ammo off any of those who try to oppress me. (they wont need it anymore) ;D
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2HOW,
With goodies like that dont forget to mention that stuff at gun shows when you see something you might buy if you get the right deal on! You may have something you didnt think much of and that guy's been looking for for ages!
Got some steel scope mounts for a .44 carbine in that drawer??? :)
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My favorite quote:
"Handguns are only good to fight your way back to the long gun you shouldnt have left to begin with".
"a .22 in your pocket is better than the .44 you left at home"
A Glock in the hand is worth two in the safe.