The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Good article in Forbes on the ammunition shortage

**Mike Irwin** · October 23, 2013, 07:03 AM

"I already know that factories/staff/logistics do not pop up in 24 hours but these major companies like ATK, Black Hills, Hornady etc have dealt with increased sales & production demands for 4/5 years."

yep. The problem is, what happens on the other end? When gun owners finally get their heads out of their panicky butts and stop buying?

Companies have to take into consideration what happens when the panic dies down. Can they afford to shutter lines? What do they do with them? Hold them in reserve just in case gun owners wig out again? That's expensive as hell because they not only have to maintain the equipment, they now have to service the debt that they took on expand those lines in the first place.

Unlike the panic hoarders, these companies have to take into account what MIGHT happen in the future.

And the American economic landscape is absolutely littered with the corpses of companies that guessed wrong.

I'd rather that these companies be a bit on the conservative side and puruse a reasoned course of operations as opposed to rushing around and overexpanding to their post-panic detriment just because they focus on Johnny the Panicky Jackass who's running around stoping his feet and screaming at the top of his lungs how it's horrible that he can't buy 50,000 rounds of ammo RIGHT NOW because he needs it to hold off the hoards of baby-blue-helmeted UN robot soldiers who are coming to take his guns.

Your REAL angst shouldn't be with the manufacturers.

It should be with a significant portion of your fellow gunowners. They've created this mess by being worse than herds of lemmings.

October 23, 2013, 07:03 AM	#21
Mike Irwin Staff Join Date: April 13, 2000 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 41,390	"I already know that factories/staff/logistics do not pop up in 24 hours but these major companies like ATK, Black Hills, Hornady etc have dealt with increased sales & production demands for 4/5 years." yep. The problem is, what happens on the other end? When gun owners finally get their heads out of their panicky butts and stop buying? Companies have to take into consideration what happens when the panic dies down. Can they afford to shutter lines? What do they do with them? Hold them in reserve just in case gun owners wig out again? That's expensive as hell because they not only have to maintain the equipment, they now have to service the debt that they took on expand those lines in the first place. Unlike the panic hoarders, these companies have to take into account what MIGHT happen in the future. And the American economic landscape is absolutely littered with the corpses of companies that guessed wrong. I'd rather that these companies be a bit on the conservative side and puruse a reasoned course of operations as opposed to rushing around and overexpanding to their post-panic detriment just because they focus on Johnny the Panicky Jackass who's running around stoping his feet and screaming at the top of his lungs how it's horrible that he can't buy 50,000 rounds of ammo RIGHT NOW because he needs it to hold off the hoards of baby-blue-helmeted UN robot soldiers who are coming to take his guns. Your REAL angst shouldn't be with the manufacturers. It should be with a significant portion of your fellow gunowners. They've created this mess by being worse than herds of lemmings. __________________ "The gift which I am sending you is called a dog, and is in fact the most precious and valuable possession of mankind" -Theodorus Gaza Baby Jesus cries when the fat redneck doesn't have military-grade firepower.