Posted on 05/02/2009 5:03:31 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
NORTH FORT MYERS — Tom Brennan finally found his bullets on Saturday.
After waiting 20 minutes in line at a gun show, he handed over nearly $210 for 10 boxes of 9 mm ammunition. The price was almost twice what he’d normally pay at a retail store. Problem is, those retail stores can’t keep boxes of 9 mm ammunition in stock.
When a shipment arrives, the boxes are snatched up immediately.
“I’ve been going every day,” Brennan, 45, said. “I can’t get it by the time I get there.”
His odds improved the moment he stepped inside the Suncoast Gun Show in North Fort Myers at the Lee Civic Center, a weekend event drawing thousands of area shooters, gun enthusiasts and eager novices.
Like Brennan, many are looking for ammunition that’s become increasingly elusive and more expensive since late last year.
Sales of guns and ammunition jumped, as did applications for concealed weapons permits, when the election of President Barack Obama became increasingly apparent in October. Many fear Obama will increase firearms regulations, make ammunition more difficult to acquire and ban some guns outright.
Obama, the joke goes, is the gun salesman of the year. Firearms and ammunition companies have benefited greatly.
Revenues for Winchester, a firearms and ammunition division of Olin Corp., increased 70 percent from January through March 2009, compared to the same period in 2008.
Remington saw firearm sales more than double from 2007 to 2008 and ammunition sales jumped more than 60 percent in the past year.
In another sign of heavy buying, monthly requests for firearm background checks in Florida jumped between October and December 2008, from an average 34,663 requests in the nine prior months to 56,697. The inquiries have remained high -- April saw 47,013.
On Saturday, the rush was in full view, with visitors cramming tables to complete one of the ubiquitous yellow background check sheets. At one of the gun show’s biggest displays, dealers on Segways cruised between the tables to help customers.
In a corner of the building, an instructor taught a concealed-carry permit class to dozens of men and women seated in fold-out chairs.
The course provided a lesson, fingerprinting, a photograph and a test. Students only needed to fire a round at a gun range to get the permit, considering they passed the test.
Permit applications have risen dramatically in recent months.
New applications for 2008-09 in Lee and Collier counties are on pace to top those from last year. Renewal application numbers already are twice what they were by the end of last year. As a result, application processing time has risen, dealers and others attending the show said.
The busiest tables at the gun show belonged to those selling ammunition. Most sold individual boxes. One table, where Brennan bought, sold in bulk and was popular for it.
Certain calibers were going fast, and others couldn’t be found. Looking for .380-caliber or .38 Special? Look elsewhere. Trying to find .45-caliber? Better move quickly.
Still, odds were better at the gun show than elsewhere.
Local Wal-Marts, for example, limit customers to a six-box purchase of 9 mm boxes, but they still can’t keep the ammunition in stock.
Paul Ryan, 47, of Punta Gorda, was searching for .380-caliber and .38 special rounds, with little luck. Asked about the dearth of ammunition, he pointed to the election. But he said Obama’s power will be kept in check by Democrats from rural states and pressure from the National Rifle Association.
“The situation at hand is one of panic, not reality,” he said.
But if Obama is re-elected? Then he might make a move, Ryan figures.
“I hope the NRA maintains its pressure,” he said.
Obama supported the now-defunct gun ban in Washington, D.C., which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional last year, and he has said he will reinstate the federal assault weapons ban, which was allowed to lapse during the previous administration.
Assault rifles, like the AR-15, a semi-automatic civilian version of the military M-16, have grown in popularity since the election.
Opponents of the weapons ban say the guns are unfairly singled out and confused for fully automatic weapons. Dealers are trying to drop the word “assault” from the gun.
Eric Solomon, owner of First Pawn Jewelry & Loan in Naples, calls them “black guns,” and said they’re among the most popular gun buys at his store. Gun volumes and prices haven’t changed as dramatically as with ammunition, he said, but there have been some fluctuations.
Machine gun dealer John Thedford, who was displaying a World War II Tommy gun and an M-16 -- made by General Motors -- said he’s having trouble getting orders on time.
“They are so far backlogged,” he said. “It used to take a week for an order. Now it takes two months.”
Solomon said many dealers are piecing together orders from multiple suppliers. Still, Solomon hasn’t gotten his hands on bulk ammunition in four weeks, and he’s seen no .380-caliber ammunition in the past eight weeks.
By early Saturday afternoon, he had sold four guns, he said, including a pair of shotguns intended for the buyers’ wives.
Fear of increased crime from a poor economy is fueling some buying, Solomon said. But the same economy, with its depressed wages and increased unemployment, also could damper the firearms rush, he said.
“I think this is indefinite as far as desire goes,” Solomon offered. “But there’s an economic ceiling.”
Problem people are running into now is you can’t get primers. They’re all out until the end of the year. Even if you can get brass, no primers.
The one word/phrase that blows everything out of proportion is “assault rifle”. An assault rifle is hard to obtain.... The easy part is the paperwork....then its the 20k that kills your bank account..... I own three “Fun Guns”...
They are fun...guntalk.com
I have shot an assault rifle,, and it was a blast!!!!!
Could not hit anything except the side of a barn, but it was fun!!!!!
31,000 primers I have in my inventory. I bought a pistol in January and was advised to check out the store’s “Bargain” table while they did the background check. They were selling primers for $20 per thousand. I spent more on primers that I did the pistol.
Any word on increased production?
.
* almost
Is it just stockpiling then? Because everyone is backordered on even the most basic of rounds. worked on keeping a stockpile years ago but just buying plinking ammo is near impossible.
31,000 primers I have in my inventory. I bought a pistol in January and was advised to check out the store’s “Bargain” table while they did the background check. They were selling primers for $20 per thousand. I spent more on primers that I did the pistol.
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31,000 primers. What are you nuts? Just forcing up the price on your other gun enthusiast who shoot. He got a 5 to 10 years or 20 years supplier farmers. This is nonsense..
Please help out your other gun supporters and be rational..
"To each according to his needs..." eh?
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