[SteveBonning]

Hoarders are the name we give to others who buy the ammo that we don't get.....

This is the free market undergoing an aberration due to political forces and the reaction of the public to those forces. It is fear-driven. Civil unrest or natural disaster may lead people to hoard foodstuffs, water, gasoline and other essentials which they believe, rightly or wrongly, will soon be in short supply. That is what has happened to the market with guns and ammo.

People's other favorite term right now is price gouging. Price gouging is a pejorative term referring to a situation in which a seller prices goods or commodities much higher than is considered reasonable or fair. This rapid increase in prices occurs after a demand or supply shock: examples include price increases after hurricanes or other natural disasters. In precise, legal usage, it is the name of a crime that applies in some of the United States during civil emergencies. In less precise usage, it can refer either to prices obtained by practices inconsistent with a competitive free market, or to windfall profits.

So, recent tragic events caused a rapid political response that is ongoing and unpredictable resulting in fear that guns, ammo and certain accessories will be unavailable, banned or both. That fear causes 'hoarding' of available supplies. The supply is no different that before the tragedy but the demand is markedly greater. Since the demand is greater than capacity to manufacture, prices rise (highest bidder concept)- WE do the hoarding but there is NO price gouging. WE, as the gun market consumers, are responsible for the hoarding; the free market is responsible for the prices. Prices will come down when the hoarding ceases. The hoarding will cease if/when the political climate eases up and the laws being considered are stupid crazy.