The Great Ammo Shortage of 2020
Gander Outdoors in Kenosha, WI — reader-submitted photo on GMToday.com
There is major ammunition shortage right throughout the nation. The unrest and riots in urban areas along with left-wing calls to “defund the police” have caused millions of Americans to be concerned about safety, so they are buying ammo wherever they can find it, online and in stores. Another reason ammo demand is exceeding supply is that 2020 has seen record numbers of first-time gun owners buying acquired rifles, pistols, and shotguns, primarily for self-defense. According to the NSSF, gun sales are up 95% in the first half of 2020 compared to Jan-June 2019. Even more remarkable, the NSSF says ammo sales are up 139% compared to the same time period in 2019. That’s a massive increase.
One ammunition manufacturer, Arizona-based Ammo Inc. has revealed that it has $80 million in unfilled ammo orders. “We’re working right now seven days a week, 24 hours a day in all the manufacturing plants”, Ammo Incorporated CEO Fred Wagenhals told AZFamily.com.
“We just bought 2.8 million dollars worth of machinery and equipment last week to increase our production and increase our volume”, Wagenhals added.
According to GunsAmerica Digest, “Wagenhals attributed the jump in demand to various factors, including COVID-19, the upcoming presidential election, and widespread civil unrest[.]” Wagenhals noted: “As you’ve seen in a lot of cities, the looting and the burning, and I think people are just scared.”
Mark Oliva, NSSF Director of Public Affairs, told GunsAmerica that the spike in demand for ammo mirrors that of firearms, with ammo sales skyrocketing:
“The sale on ammunition goes hand-in-glove with the sale of firearms. NSSF estimates there are more than 5 million people who bought a gun for the first time this year and we’ve recorded more than 13.8 million background checks for the sale of a gun this year. That tops figures for all of 2019 in just the first eight months of 2020. That’s caused an unprecedented demand in the marketplace and we’re seeing this happen everywhere.”
“Ammunition makers are working as quickly as possibly to meet this demand,” Oliva continued. “We’ve seen spikes before and we’ve seen sustained period of demand. This year, though, is unlike any before.”
Ammo Inc.’s STREAK Ammo — Tracers without Heat
Ammo Inc. produces a unique type of STREAK ammo that delivers a tracer-like light trail when fired. Through patented technology, a photo-luminescent coating is applied to the base of the bullet. This is “activated” on firing, allowing the shooter to see the projectile’s path toward its target. STREAK rounds are NON-incendiary. They do not generate heat so they are safe to use in environments where tracers are prohibited or could be a fire hazard. Ammo Inc. says these STREAK bullets are “game-changing” for indoor range use and low-light shooting.
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Tags: Ammo Inc., Ammunition Shortage, GunsAmerica Digest, Streak Ammunition, Tracers, Visual Ammunition
I wish all the ammo hoarders and scalpers would realize that they’re only going to cause an increase of ammo prices in the long term. Buy what you’re going to shoot; you really don’t need a lifetime supply.
What’s horrible are all these jerks buying up the ammo and selling it for up to 4 times retail. There are a lot of us low income gun owners who are being screwed over. $30 for a box of CCI Blazer Brass 9mm! Just like the jerks selling a tiny bottle of hand sanitizer for $20 these people need to be prosecuted for price gouging.
i love when these hoarders buyout the local stores and then try to triple their money on gunbroker or other sites and then the panic ends and all you hear is crying about how unfair it is that they are left holding thousands of rounds they over paid for and now cant sell at a huge mark up because now walmart and other retailers have cheap ammo or reloading supplies on hand again.
i hope they get stuck with thousands of primers they are trying to sell at over $100 per thousand.
How will Trump ever make America great again with such a large population of far left politicians and citizens? I quess its vote for Biden Harris and enjoy your Communism, I know the criminals will. Just like Obama, Biden is creating division and panic. America’s greatest import and export: Drugs. IMHO
I honestly don’t think it’s the new gun owners that are hoarding ammunition, I could be wrong, but new gun owners are probably purchasing what they think they would need to train with their newly acquired weapon and have some backup rounds. I personally believe that it’s the seasoned gun owners hoarding all the ammo. And greedy people trying to make a quick buck on the backs of paranoid gun owners.
I am a new gun owner never had really shot before. I bought a .45 and was only able to put 100 rounds through it before calling the much further north than i gunstore and they were stark out of everything, huge place too…
There are a couple of reasons for all the ammo shortages, and it’s not the flood of “new gun owners.” Most new gun owners have no idea how much ammo they will need and they probably buy a box or two at a time. The shortage is due to hoarders and government purchases. People don’t even realize how much ammo the government buys, but during times like these, the government purposely purchases massive amounts of ammo because it limits civilian purchasing. The other are hoarders, who really are not very bright. They think they are preparing for WWIII and a lifetime of defense, but the reality is that when someone is hoarding when the stuff hits the fan will find they have a large target on their backs and it only takes 1 round and suddenly all your ammo is someone else’s or a group of others. So, if you’re a hoarder and reading this, KNOCK IT OFF!
I agree with Robert that hording ammo is useless (and expensive) having several thousand rounds for one or two guns will more likely end up belonging to others rather than be completely shot up by the hoarder, but 5 million boxes of ammo is a lot and most likely newbes buy more than one box so the new gun owners are for sure having an impact, as for reloading supplies that is mostly seasoned gun owners doing what humans do best, being greedy. Having owned many guns in the last 50 years I have found that there’s a little larceny in ALL OF US whether you want to admit it or not, no one wants to be out done by the other person so NO, hoarding and new buying pressure will continue in the same cycle that it always has but a little worse than the past with so much new interest in gun ownership. I hear people brag about how much ammo and guns they have all the time, Unreal, but True. You will learn to live in the gun and ammo cycles and when these folks realize that the boogie man is not going to take their guns away and that crazed protesters don’t show up they will relax, shelves will restock and you can get your ammo again…for awhile, until the next cycle, that for sure will come again and again.