Ammunition shortage hitting Central Texas
Stores and gun owners say some calibers are almost impossible to find.
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, April 23, 2009
On a recent afternoon, the shelves that usually stock handgun ammunition at the Cabela's sporting goods store in Buda sat mostly empty, save for a few stray boxes.
It was the same story at Academy a few exits up Interstate 35. And well-established Austin gun shops like Red's, McBride's and Tex-Guns report deep shortages in nearly all calibers of handgun bullets.
A nationwide bullet drought has hit Central Texas with a vengeance. Beginning around the time President Barack Obama was elected, the shortage has made some .380-, .45-, .357- and .38-caliber ammunition as rare as an Austin snowstorm.
Longtime gun dealers say the current ammunition shortage is historic. "We've seen runs on various things before, but never this sustained or this lengthy," said Chuck Wagnon, whose family owns Tex-Guns in South Austin. "It's been a buying frenzy."
"Literally we can almost sell anything we can get, and we're not getting much," said Joe McBride, owner of McBride's Guns in Austin.
The Austin shortage is just part of a nationwide paucity of ammunition that most agree began with fear that the Obama administration will regulate, ban or tax guns and ammunition.
Worry has centered on a suggestion by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder that Obama will push for a revival of an assault weapon ban that expired under President George W. Bush. And Internet rumors have run rampant, warning, among other things, that Obama plans a 500 percent tax on ammunition.
"Once the election happened, people became very concerned and began increasing purchases," McBride said. "It really started at the tail end of last year."
Last year also saw brisk gun sales, and especially of semiautomatic rifles, sparked by worry that a Democratic president would reinstate bans and waiting periods for handguns. That soon spread to ammunition, where demand quickly outstripped supply.
Although he supported a reinstatement of a ban on semi-automatic weapons during his campaign, Obama has since backed away from such sentiments.
But that hasn't slowed the demand for ammo. It's become so bad that local dealers have begun placing limits on how many rounds customers can buy, hoping to give more people a chance to buy bullets on those rare days when new stock arrives. Meanwhile, prices on some calibers have risen two or threefold since last year. On gunbroker.com, 150 rounds of hard-to-find .380-caliber bullets are selling for $125, several times as high as pre-shortage prices.
Neil Fees, a Horseshoe Bay investor, spent two days this week searching for 9 mm bullets at various Austin gun shops. He arrived at Red's shooting range in South Austin on Wednesday after hearing a tip from a fellow searcher, but soon learned Red's is saving its precious stash for those using them at its firing range.
"There just isn't anything anywhere," Fees said. "I've got a gun but no bullets ... People are freaking out."
McBride says heavy demand only tells part of the story.
"I will tell you that supply isn't existing," he said. "I hear the conclusion that people are buying everything they can buy, and there's a lot to that, but there isn't anything out there to buy."
Manufacturers insist they are producing as many bullets as they can.
"Remington Arms is operating at full capacity and will continue to do so," said Al Russo, spokesman for the North Carolina-based company. "We're producing more today and more this month than we have produced in the past."
Some longtime gun dealers believe the supply chain has simply been depleted by the recent run on ammunition.
"My guess is we'll see some loosening in four to six months," Wagnon said. "I don't think the manufacturers can make it quick enough."
The ammunition shortages have also affected law enforcement agencies across the country, particularly in smaller police and sheriff's departments. In Florence, in northern Williamson County, Police Chief Jeffery Dever said prices have spiked so dramatically that his department's ammunition budget mushroomed from about $1,000 to about $4,000.
He's also been forced to order ammunition months earlier than normal to make sure his officers have bullets. "We knew it would be difficult to get ahold of (ammunition)," he said.
Both the Travis County Sheriff's Department and the Austin Police Department say they are well positioned to weather the drought. "We haven't experienced any problems getting orders," said Travis County sheriff's department spokesman Roger Wade. "We're not ramping up orders."
Lt. Randy Pasley said the Austin Police Department orders its ammunition from a local distributor about six months in advance.
"We placed our order well before these recent things came out in the news," he said. "Right now if we manage it well and order far enough in advance, we can meet all of our needs."
Pasley said most of the department's ammunition is used during cadet training. The next class is scheduled for September, and Pasley said he doesn't expect any shortages.
But for gun owners who can't find bullets, the shortage remains acute — and troublesome.
"It makes people nervous," said Alice Tripp, the legislative director of the Texas State Rifle Association. "If you go to (gun shops) and see empty shelves, it makes people nervous and uncomfortable."
http://www.israelicombatshooting.com
