The indiscriminate slaughter and hostage-taking of even children, women and the elderly shocked many. And as is often the case in times of great uncertainty, people feel a renewed urgency to ensure their self-defense capabilities.
A report by Bearing Arms cited several sources confirming that there is a strong surge in ammunition purchasing.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) told the outlet that it is aware of increased demand for ammo. It noted that this phenomenon is not unprecedented and is almost certainly tied to global unrest.
A Florida gun shop reported purchasing forty thousand ammo rounds and selling thirty-six thousand of them in a scant four hours.
There were examples given of ammunition suppliers warning that an unusually high order volume resulted in limited product availability. One, SGAmmo.com, reported that it had a current backlog of 12,000 orders.
Reports also surfaced of at least one manufacturer halting all commercial orders, again setting the stage for possible shortages.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the civil unrest of 2020 created a massive dearth of ammunition. First it was production being significantly slowed or halted altogether by lockdowns and product shortages. Then the summer riots led to a drastic increase in demand as people sought to arm themselves in the face of spreading protests.
Approximately 8.4 million new gun owners registered their firearms in 2020, and gun sales skyrocketed. With this, of course, came the demand for more rounds than were commercially available.
NSSF spokesman Mark Oliva noted that if each of these 8.4 million people buying weapons for the first time simply purchased one box of 50 rounds, “that’s going to be 420 million rounds.”
Ammunition imports soared 225% to try to keep up with demand. This shortage has not been long relieved, and now there may be another rush to prepare against uncertainty. Preparation is always good, but panic-buying merely adds another problem to a world of uncertainty.
