[Mike Irwin]

"My opinion I believe the 'fear' of the government hoarding ammunition is what caused the shortage"

There was no fear of the government hoarding ammunition in 2007-2009, and yet it was in very short supply.

The initial reports of the Government signing on to purchase up to 1.5 billion rounds of ammo first came out mid last year, yet there was no run on ammo at that time.

In 2007-2009 the fear was that whatever Democrat was elected would immediately push for draconian gun control laws.

Fear of the government buying up all the ammo didn't push the high firearms sale rate at that time.

This time around the cause was the shootings in Newtown and the Government response.

If it were just fear of the Government purchasing all of the ammo, gun sales wouldn't have spiked massively the way they did, and the way they continue to sell.

The only people who are hoarding ammo in the belief that the Government is trying to buy it all are those who are either incapable of understanding, or simply won't accept, the actual truth behind the 1.5 billion purchase contracts.

People are spreading unfounded and unnecessary fear on that subject, and have no comprehension of the actual mechanics of government purchasing or the capabilities of the companies that manufacture ammunition.

IF, and I say IF, the Government actually wanted to do something like that to control the civilian flow of ammunition, they would have to order probably along the lines of 1.5 billion rounds a MONTH, not spread over a 5 year contract vehicle.