alright this is getting ridiculous

[tahunua001]

today is the first time I've been in town since the recent gun ban crisis hit. I was in town to sell 3 battle packs of 308 ammo that I do not have a rifle for. I didn't think too hard about the fact that the buyer drove 4 and a half hours to get it, I just figured that prices had gone up and that was the cheapest he could find and justify driving for.


BUT THEN...


... I started making my rounds at my local gun stores and was about trampled to death, I have never seen so many people swarming the LGS, trying to get their hands on a gun. being from a rural area it is safe to assume that ARs and AKs are a pretty big deal and every gun store around never has less than a half dozen of each but every store I went to had a big empty spot in their racks with little doubt as to what had been there before. my favorite store to go to for ammo had 4 full pallets of 22lr ammo on the floor to fill the space that used to be occupied by 223/5.56, 308/7.62x51, and 7.62x39. SKS are selling for $400 each and are the 'scariest' guns available anywhere.

I will admit that I have bought into mass hysteria in my time but people driving 9 hours round trip for 600 rounds of practice ammo and being trampled over archangel 10/22 and SKS is just plain insane. anyone else seeing this?

[MagnumWill]

Just got back in town today, and visited my LGS to pick up some extra P-mags for the wife's gun. Supposedly the hysteria had died down there a lot, because I was able to actually get in the door. The place was a complete shambles- they had essentially roped off most areas that were piled high with purchased semi-autos, and were pretty much selling what rifles they had left, hi cap mags and ammo. The register is typically one person, maybe two at most? Today it was sixteen people deep. Madness. Just madness.

[Venom1956]

yep. seeing it here. One shops wall that mostly does 'tacticool' AR wall is completely bare.

Another shop, my favorite, was completely insane. People don't even know anything about ARs except they all wanted one. they ate thru most of their on hand rifles only a few remaining. Only a few .223 boxes left all steel wolf.

[MagnumWill]

Do you know what the funniest thing is? I'm currently working in CA, and I went into a gun shop there, and it was as if nothing's happening. I asked if they've had a recent influx of people looking for ARs, and they raised an eyebrow at me and said "nope, business as usual." Which is funny, granted a CA-compliant AR has a bullet button (which can be quickly changed out as you know), people would be shocked how "cheap" they could get an AR-15 right now. Ammo too! They had two giant bins of .223, 5.56 and shop reloads. It was very strange that it would be easiest to get an AR and ammo in CA right now. Haha! :rolleyes:

[tahunua001]

except for it would be a ban compliant AR anyway which is kindof defying the point of buying before the ban takes place.

[Osanagokoro]

The local Dick's Sporting Good chain pulled ALL their 'assault style' rifles so basically... anything that isn't a wooden bolt action is gone. LGS I frequent told me some guy in an Escalade came in and bought up all $4000 of ammo he had on hand and every AR in stock. All he had on the shelves were a couple shotguns, a few Ruger 10/22's and a lever action.

This is ridiculous. It really is. It wasn't even like this after Columbine, 9/11 or the Obama election.

[MagnumWill]

@tahunua

....touché... :o

[7.62 Nato]

I was at a gun show when I heard about the shooting. Things seemed normal at that time. Went to the next show and it was a bit hectic. Over the next couple days it got crazy. Customers were getting frantic. Dealers were both worried, and happy. I haven't went near a gun store.

[tahunua001]

LGS I frequent told me some guy in an Escalade came in and bought up all $4000 of ammo he had on hand and every AR in stock.
ok now that is scary, he might be a profiteer planning on reselling them when the scare is at it's height and people will be willing to pay $2,000 for a DPMS and a dollar a round for 223 but that is still a little odd.

[stu925]

ok now that is scary, he might be a profiteer planning on reselling them when the scare is at it's height and people will be willing to pay $2,000 for a DPMS and a dollar a round for 223 but that is still a little odd.

That's exactly what I was thinking. That guy will be reselling all that stuff after the ban for about twice what it's worth. Was on gunbroker yesterday and looking at stripped AR lowers, I couldn't believe what people are bidding for stripped lowers. One guy's got a Stag Arms lower started bidding at $129 and it's got 24 bids and is up to $590.

Stu

[pjp74]

Same thing here in Texas, my favorite LGS who usually has at least 15+ AR15s, 6 or so AR10s/M1As, and half a wall of AKs/SKSs. The entire wall was bare, no 556 ammo, one Pmag that he was asking $50 for. He said he never expected to see his shop that empty.

[rcase1234]

I saw they removed any AR type rifles from the case in wal mart. They don't have the .22 version, the normal 5.56/.223, and the Ruger Mini 14. However, they have stocked up on shotguns and some bolt action hunting rifles. It is ridiculous. We don't blame cars for drunk drivers, why blame guns for violent people?

[Mike38]

There is a new gun shop 6 miles from me. Next closest one is 40 miles away, so this guy should do okay, even though he is way over priced. I drive by the place daily on my way home from work. Most vehicles I’ve seen in his lot at one time was three and mine was one of them. Today his parking lot was full. Probably 20 vehicles.

[tahunua001]

there is a shop where I live, in a little town of 1100 people, in a back area where nobody really lives and definitely don't open businesses. he doesn't advertise or have signs on the highway to let people know he even exists. to top it all off he keeps his prices just low enough to be competetive and he's kindof a grouch, his son is a know-it-all that doesn't actually know much of anything and his grandson just kindof hangs out behind the counter hoping that dad or grampa are around if someone has a question...

I am curious to know how he's fairing being the only gun shop in a 15 mile radius and now especially since everyone else is sold out of all the "good stuff"

[James K]

Just more guns to confiscate when Obama sends the troops and tanks down your street.

Jim (I hope I am exaggerating!)

[Hairbag]

Take a look at GB half the people on there are bidding on guns are first time users with no feedback. I bet most of them never owned or cared to own a gun. Once you tell people they can't have something they all want it.

[RBid]

I work for a dealer who has multiple stores, between two States. We have 13 locations, most of which are 2 man operations. Myself and one other guy generally man our locations individually. I love my job.

Being in Oregon, we had the Clackamas Town Center shooting kick off a rush on concealed carry pieces, then CT fuel it, then pay day + Christmas rush + Feinstein + media + Obama driving the rifle grab.

This particular week has been beyond overwhelming. I had a great month in November, and I beat my Nov sales in 3 days this week (M-W). I sold out of semiauto rifles, got more in, and sold out again, before Thursday. Receivers are gone.

Prices are climbing rapidly. I checked multiple distributors today, and saw them at 0 Glock 17s, etc. Even high-production, staple items are smoked.

I made my first panic buy, today: a 22rd and a 31rd mag for a Glock 23 that I haven't bought, yet. $100 per mag.

I'm exhausted.

[Chaz88]

Hope I can still find and afford to buy 9mm and 12g for competition while waiting for this to calm down. If I am ever in the gun and ammunition manufacturing industry I think part of my profit plan will be donating money to the politician that can scare the gun people the most. :mad:

[Ignition Override]

At the Germantown/Memphis gun Show today, a very astute gun friend was told that the line of people was a quarter mile long.
Maybe it wasn't so long, but it sounded like a local record, and the size of our area shows is pretty small, compared with Atlanta shows.

This middle-aged friend who is quite seasoned with guns and makes a living from the stock market told me that in various parts of the country, despite the slow economy, people are selling boats or cars in order to buy rifles that might soon be banned.
He bought about forty AR mags when the tragedy happened, days before the media began its march on the anti-gun warpath.

On CNN, "professional journalist";) Piers Morgan must have sold thousands of guns.........

My SKS was near-mint in early '08, cost $200 and has no detachable magazine.

[youngunz4life]

On my day off this past week, I stopped by the local gunstore just to have a looksee as I wanted to go in the store nextdoor too. The worker was very nice, as he asked me if I needed help. I told him no, but I noticed about seven of them working guns. I have never seen it that busy in my life; the ammo seemed less present...as for guns, I just saw lots and lots of them.

I think a lot of it(and this is normal), are first time buyers who are fed up with innocent people becoming involved in tragic situations. Many first time buyers just want a gun for the home for starters. There were three women(two older) buying guns. I obviously don't know if they were first-time gun owners. Anyways, I can attest to the fact that the gunshop was BUSY.

[Dr Big Bird PhD]

Needless to say, I am very happy I finished my build before Connecticut. Post-Conn, the only thing I went to my LGS for was 20rd case of .223 SD ammo and a takedown detent & spring. They had ONE spring and two detents left and only have 3 boxes of Hornady .223 TAP left. THREE. This is the single largest and most popular gun shop in central Los Angeles. The ammo i can understand but even the small parts were slim pickings.

[Chaz88]

Well on the bright side this might be a plan that actually stimulates the economy.

[UtahHunting]

I just sold my m&p sport for $1800. I paid 600 less than 4 months ago for it so I couldn't turn the offer down. Unreal, but if people are willing to pay it I am willing to let it go.

[TheGoldenState]

I just sold my m&p sport for $1800. I paid 600 less than 4 months ago for it so I couldn't turn the offer down. Unreal, but if people are willing to pay it I am willing to let it go.



Now that was an investment:eek:

[Apom]

Actually, it may very well be possible, that the death of 27 people may turn the economy around. If that happened, I wonder how it would be reported on the news networks.

[RUT]

>>Well on the bright side this might be a plan that actually stimulates the economy.<<

But only for the short term. I had one LGS lamenting the fact that once all his guns are cleaned out he's not going to be able to replace them. Then what?

[TheGoldenState]

But only for the short term. I had one LGS lamenting the fact that once all his guns are cleaned out he's not going to be able to replace them. Then what?


Then we'll sell them back to him at a gouging price, and he'll re-sell them at a re-re-gouged price to the next folks lined up.

[tahunua001]

only if the ban takes effect either before we resell them then he has no source of new guns but if he buys them back and the ban takes effect he has a bunch of overpriced and non transferable guns that he can't sell. so yeah that would be a foolish endeavor.

and the assessment that this is not a good thing for the economy is a good one. people rushing out to get guns is all well and good and america will be a safer place because of it however think of the millions of dollars of credit card debt is being racked up in addition to the normal influx of debt around the holiday season and how long it will take some of these people to get out of debt. months of rationing, (IE not leaving the house unless absolutely necessary, ramen and mac&cheese diets, no family night outs, no new toys/video games for the kids, spa days for the wives, and range days for the dads) will hurt the economy for several months following this buyers frenzy. this is the exact same thing that has caused the economic crisis in the united states, spending beyond your means and when you finally try to get out of debt all of your money is going to debtors rather than businesses, this is just a much more rapid progression in a more concentrated market.