Why Don't They Buy Now ??

[billt]

Sometimes I just don't understand people. Even gun owners. In fact, especially gun owners. Right after the Sandy Hook shooting everyone ran out and stripped the shelves bare of any Hi-Cap magazine they could get their hands on. In doing so they drove the prices on them up into the Stratosphere. Just to give you an example. Just a few weeks after Sandy Hook, the Cabela's by me got in a barrel full of some cheap ass, no name, 30 round plastic AR-15 magazines. These were normally $7 magazines TOPS. I was in the store when the guy wheeled them out on a 2 wheel dolly, and sat them at the end of the main isle, right by the gun counter. They were priced at $27.95 each. People were knocking each other out of the way to get them. Mind you a ban of any type had not even been introduced yet.

The next day I returned and they were all gone. The girl I talked to said they didn't last 2 hours. Fast forward to today. They've got dozens of P-Mags on the racks for $14.95 each, and no one wants them. Yet if some crackpot shot up a mall tomorrow, and killed 25 people, all of this nonsense would start all up again. It's almost as if people don't want what they CAN have, so they wait until they CAN'T have it. Then they go nuts, and pay inflated prices for it. They actually think they made out. Just because they beat some other nit wit to it first.

.22 LR ammo is another good example. Now you can't find it anywhere. When you do it's priced at some insane markup:

http://ammoace.myshopify.com/

Again, before Sandy Hook there was all you could carry for $18.00 for 550 rounds. No one wanted it. Yet, now these same people will stand in line to pay almost .20 cents a round. You watch, as soon as it again becomes available in quantity, no one will even look at it. None of this makes any sense, and shows how we as Americans have zero foresight.

 I had plenty of 30 round magazines for both my AR-15's and AK-47's long before Sandy Hook. Now that everything is returning to normal magazine wise, I'm purchasing many dozens more. In the last month I've gotten over 65, 30 round Magpul P-Mags, and never paid more than $12.00 each for them. The last batch was for just $10.95. Just after Sandy Hook there was this:

http://www.outdoorfree.com/ads/10-magpul-pmag-black-magazine-ar15/

And the idiot who bought them was probably smiling when he opened the box. I'm going to buy even more now because I totally believe this will not only happen again, but may bring even more gun control, and bans along with it. I have another 20, 30 round new steel Bulgarian AK mags coming, along with 5, 48 rounders along with them.

I've been stockpiling 9 MM FMJ ammo for the last couple of years for just $9.95 a box. Every time either my wife or I went to Walmart, we would pick up the 6 box limit at the time. I accumulated tens of thousands of rounds this way. Mind you I'm not made of money. I could have spent that money on hundreds of other things. But I had a bad feeling something bad was going to happen. It did when the Sandy Hook shooting occurred. I have not bought a round of ammunition since. And I won't until things return to normal price wise. If they ever do.

It's the same with weapons. AR-15 and AK-47 prices are returning to normal now. The Cabela's by me has racks and racks of them available. All at very good prices. No takers. Yet they were 3 deep at the gun counter 2 weeks after the Sandy Hook shooting, paying 35% to 40% more. They were all smiling as they walked out the door, thinking how they beat out some other dumb ass who was walking in, as they were headed for the car. God help this country if we ever have a bad collapse. If gun owners can't act any better than this, try to imagine what the rest of the population is going to behave like when we have a real problem! Rant off.

[mortdooley]

Human nature is like that, where I live on the Texas Gulf Coast every time a Hurricane is predicted some people go into full panic mode! Store shelves are bare and I see more people on the verge of tears rather then rude and aggressive.

What I get from the gun panics is some companies will take advantage and other won't, some limit sales and their stock is less likely to surface at gun shows at hugely inflated prices. Others charge insane prices because plenty of frightened customers will pay it. When supply is back to normal there are a number of companies I will never buy from again!

[Solus]

Another reason those folks aren't buying is that, in the panic, they squeezed every bit of cash they could borrow or find under the sofa cushions to make the purchase.

Now they are in the process of  re-establishing a balanced budget.

Folks who didn't panic buy can now resume purchases according to their  normal demand, but overall demand is going to be below normal until the personal economics get back on track and more guns are wanted.

[PegLeg45]

I'm with you, Bill........ the stupidity and panic-driven ways of the masses astounds me at times.

If there isn't another "Sandy Hook" event in the next six months or so, we might actually see gun prices below what they were last year due to market bulge ...... might get some decent prices for the Christmas shopping season.
Ammo will take longer.

[dipisc]

Hi;

     I agree with tht prices will come down more and those of us who were well to fairly well stocked before the panic will be buying/restocking at the low price. In a few other forums, people were crying about not being able to buy ammo and making comments about shooting up what they could get their hands on.

     Helllooooooo, Why would anyone shot up what they have and then complain that they are low on ammo. If prices and ammo become low in price and plentiful on the shelves - I doubt if some of those people will stash some ammo for the next panic.

     I hope that the ammo sits on the shelves for a few months - to me that means the stores will have "sales" and those of us who can think clearly will buy and stock up.

[Sponsor]

[Solus]

A protocol I find I use is to stock up on reloading supplies when prices are low and buy and shoot cheap ammo.

When ammo and supply prices go up, you can reload at that low price per round and your savings go against the current high price of ammo.  Makes you feel like your hourly wage reloading has skyrocketed    

Shooting factory ammo when it is cheap also builds your stock of cases for reloading.

Of course, I don't have a "Competitive Habit" to feed.