Florida Gun Owners Camping Out for Chance to Buy Ammunition

Gun owners in central Florida began camping out as early as 2 a.m. Monday in order to enter Lake Mary’s Academy Sporting Goods for ammunition when doors opened at 9:00 a.m.

Fox 11 reports that campers voiced concern over President-elect Joe Biden’s anticipated gun control push and wanted to stock up on ammunition while they still could....


This is bad. Berry, berry bad.

Because you might find die-hard "gun guys" who are willing to queue up at 2 am in January to buy some bullets, but not, I fear, so many 'casual' gun owners. Many (if not most) of them will just give up on it before they'll go to that much trouble.

The ammo mfgrs have been hesitant in the past to chase after temporary sales booms -- especially when they were sparked by fear of anti-gun politicians -- but this isn't a "temporary" boom. This started in November of 2008, and far from looking like it might soon improve, as this headline shows, it just. keeps. getting. worse.

But despite the amazing gun sales records, if the ammo manufacturers don't turn loose of some the the profits they've made over the last 12 years (and shame on them if they didn't squirrel it away by the armored car-full while they had the chance) and spend it on dramatic increases in manufacturing capacity, headlines like this are going to kill the gun culture.

The die-hards might weather the storm but just how many casual gun owners (who are the vast majority) will go to that effort? Who's going to give their 15-year-old son a Ruger 10/22 for Christmas when there might not be any .22LR ammo to be found until he's old enough to buy it for himself?

And if gun ownership as a tradition ceases to be, then gun rights and gun ownership in general will be at dire risk. And as gun culture contracts, so will the prospects for the manufacturers' future sales.

They need to wake up and smell the nitro (while there's still any nitro to smell).