Coronavirus panic Ammogeddon 2.0?

[jdc606]

My concern. Waiting for someone with a gun to act irrationally so the war powers act can be used to disarm the citizenry. Seeing a divide between young and old now. Young say,"screw this, I'm going." Oldsters saying, "do whatever is necessary to protect me."
I don't imagine the millions of starved/executed comrades in the Soviet Union or China ever saw it coming.
Look what went down with Japanese US citizens during WWII.

[HiBC]

One thingI know for sure,I'm going to die.
I don't know when. I'm not in any hurry. But the time is going to come.

I watched this movie in 1970.Then,years later:

There was a day I heard a magazine inserted,a round chambered,and then the muzzle was put against my head.
That am writing this means I did not do the wrong thing.

I said " Its a good day to die. But before I do,I'm going to drink one more of your beers." I walked to his refrigerator,pulled out a beer ,popped the top,took a pull,and looked him in the eyes.

He put the gun down.

I've pondered that. It changed me. Am I worried about crazed hoards of desperate people?

Maybe when I see them.They aren't there now.

I've already experienced running out of toilet paper. I faced the elephant. Then stepped into the shower. The elephant faded away.

From the movie "Little Big Man"

https://youtu.be/93PBNHXXWWs

[jdc606]

Originally Posted by HiBC

One thingI know for sure,I'm going to die.
I don't know when. I'm not in any hurry. But the time is going to come.

Agreed HiBC. Death is a part of living. I know a "prepper" and have long told him,"If there's no water or utilities, I don't want to be a survivor." Talk is cheap and I'll see what I'm made of when the rubber meets the road. All just makes me sad and disappointed seeing the state of things. I do so hope my fears are foolish. I don't have a need to always be right.

[HiBC]

I'm not so worried about the water and utilities. I don't need much.

I suppose that includes my point. I know two ways to waste time and energy.

Worry,is meditating on a bad outcome.

Hope is waiting for someone else to come along and solve your problem. Its passive.

The one time I really needed a gun to face a real problem at hand the gun was an 1897 Winchester 12 ga. I think my total "basic load" was 10 rounds of slugs.

I'm still here. (It was a bear thing)

As much as we develop our arms room,generally its the gun you are sleepng with that matters,and that 97 had the bear dead before it ran empty.

None of the guns in the safe mattered.

[Mainah]

I've decided to focus more on living in the moment. Enjoying nature, and things as dumb as tv commercials for stuff no one needs. Beyond that I've decided to focus on the short term for now. Trying to figure out what all this will look like in six months was driving me nuts.

[Cheapshooter]

Went by my LGS to get some Black Rifle Coffee. Not a box of 9mm left and only a few steel framed pistols and a few ARs plus the really high end stuff. No poly pistols or shotguns left.

But the important question. How was the supply of Black Rifle Coffee?. Especially the CAF

[Prof Young]

Since the first shortage years ago, anytime I find some 22LR ammo that is less than 5 cents a round I buy a bit. I get a few boxes or a brick. Been doing that for a couple of years now and have way more 22LR ammo than I really need. So . . .

All my other ammo I reload my own so . . . .


Life is good.

Prof Young

[TXAZ]

I'm impressed with the calm and kindness I've seen so far from friends and strangers.
As for ammo inventory:
9mm - either unavailable or on-line ridiculously priced.
.223 / 5.56 - diminishing but available on-line for elevated prices.
.22 LR - widely available at only moderately elevated prices.
.50 BMG - I just bought more match ammo at a lower price than I did last summer, and it seems to be widely available.

Should 'things go really south', .50 BMG will make a very fine home (and neighborhood) defensive weapon.

[ATN082268]

Locally in East Tennessee, I had 1000 rounds of 9mm 147 Grain Lawman FMJ rounds which I sold to a local gun store at my cost. I don't shoot as much as I used to and they were extra rounds I decided to put back in circulation. Naturally, the local store marked them up from what I sold them for but not unreasonably so.

[Kreyzhorse]

I hit a local store today.... it's officially out of control from what the staffers told me.

Not untypical to have wait lines 30 people long to get in the store. Ammo was 3 people deep to just look at it.

Newbies buying guns as fast as they can fill out the paper work. I saw a lot of Taurus flying off the shelves today while Glock, Ruger and Smiths moved slower.

Even the bargain priced Ruger ECPs was a slow mover.

Anyway, the shop said that every hand gun they had was on the shelf.

Rifles were moving much slower, even AR types.

[JohnKSa]

Originally Posted by HIBC

Those who believe in being prepared were prepared 4 month ago

Those panic buying today are afraid.

I like the basic idea behind this quote.

Those who are scrambling around trying to buy things today and saying they're doing it to be prepared are doing it because they are afraid and need to do something to ameliorate their fear. If they were really concerned with being prepared, they would already be prepared.

I've seen articles suggesting that everyone is a prepper now, but nothing could be farther from the truth. If that were the truth, we wouldn't be seeing any shortages because everyone would already have had what they needed and demand would have remained nearly constant.

There are two kinds of people in the world.

People who watch the news and then get up and go start making panic purchases.
People who watch the news and say: "Good thing I'm already prepared."

[rickyrick]

I’m lucky that I did some prepping, but I do live in an earthquake zone. I didn’t have to rush out and buy anything.
There’s a few things I fell short on, while I was already loosing weight and getting into shape, before this crisis, I feel I fell short in that department. I’ll continue with that trend now. I just know I’m not at the level of fitness that I should be.

I also had wanted to get a HAM radio license and put it off too long.

Wish I had stocked up on batteries.

I also fell short in the pet food department, but online ordering fixed that. I didn’t order all at once, I spaced it over time as not to limit someone else’s access to pet food.

I knew it was going to happen as reports came out of China and then the subsequent shutdown of China. I was sick for 3-4 weeks starting around the holidays...I also noticed people around me getting sick, at work, in town and the behavior of the doctors at the family practice were wearing protective gear for regular ole office visits. Weeks before it was given any serious consideration here in the US, I knew something was up. The impeachment had most people’s attention.

We aren’t at the point to where we need to go Into full survival mode yet; but if a couple of more crises get added to this one, who knows.

I’ve needed nothing gun related or ammunition related, I did finish up some AR projects that I had going and test fired them. Oh, I did also order a few GI slings, as I don’t usually put slings on recreational, non-hunting weapons. But now the ones that can accept slings have one now. Deferred car payments for 4 months, as my employment status is dependent on the length of time this continues. More than a month and I’m toast lol.
People are now demanding that Oregon and Washington issue shelter in place orders and wanting the streets locked down.
To me, all of these measures seem excessive and not compatible to a free society. I’ve never seen such far reaching restrictions with threats of more to come.

All in all, I feel prepared to hunker down for a while if it comes to that, I’m real glad I don’t need any gun or ammunition items either.

[Mainah]

There are two kinds of people in the world.

People who watch the news and then get up and go start making panic purchases.
People who watch the news and say: "Good thing I'm already prepared."

I wish the best for everyone who prepped for something like this. We'll need them in the days, weeks, and months ahead. But there are more than two kinds of people in the world.

My wife has a compromised immune system. I've got all the guns, ammo, and food we need. But that won't help if this thing hits us. And it could hit us in ways that there is no realistic way to prep for.

There is no right or wrong side of this virus, it doesn't care. But despite that we do have the ability to think beyond binary choices that explain our fates.

[reynolds357]

Around here, people are buying guns and ammo like mad men. My good friend bought 5000 more rounds of 5.56 Nato. I have talked to a lot of people who are hoarding up ammo fully believing they will need it for self defense. Am I missing something?

[JohnKSa]

My wife has a compromised immune system.

So does mine.

I've got all the guns, ammo, and food we need.

So do I. Also, before all this crap hit, we already had a good supply of hand sanitizer, basic first aid supplies (including alcohol), toilet paper, paper towels, a decent sum of cash in the safe, a more than sufficient supply of batteries, at least several weeks of prescription medications, a good supply of over the counter medications, charged power banks to recharge cell phones during power outages, etc.

But that won't help if this thing hits us. And it could hit us in ways that there is no realistic way to prep for.

It will help some. I don't have to go out and run around trying to buy stuff and increasing my exposure in the process.

We don't have to worry about food, water, toilet paper, medications, hand sanitizer, etc.--which is nice. Reducing stress levels always helps.

It is true that there is no way to be prepared for absolutely everything. Also true that being prepared doesn't prevent bad things from happening to us. Those truths don't change the fact that running around trying to buy obviously necessary supplies at the beginning of a crisis isn't something that a person who is truly concerned about being prepared will need to do.

[JERRYS.]

some people will always panic. that's just the way it is. wanna buy a brick of .22lr for $75? LOL

[JohnKSa]

People get scared. When they get scared they feel like they must do something. So they do something--it doesn't have to make sense. Just having accomplished something, even if it's not something that really matters, makes people feel better.

My guess is that the total amount of ammunition expended in all of the U.S. due to actual need caused by the current panic, will be less than the capacity of a full-sized duty pistol.

[TJB101]

We’re all guilty in one way or another ... I bought more targets, loaded 200 rounds of 9mm ammo, and started to window shop for a 450BM rifle.

[cjwils]

Some love a reason to panic. It is so exciting. Rational people need to continue being rational.

[NobodyJones]

I haven't bought any ammo, firearms, or firearms accessories, during this current panic.

[JohnKSa]

Posts have been deleted. We must stay firearms focused here at TFL.

[Road_Clam]

So many gun people simply let emotional fear rule their lives and decisions. Ive preached for years on forums about staying calm through repeated gun panics by investing in reloading and investing in reloading components. Nobody listens. Invest small amounts consistiently during the CALM times (like its been for the past 3 years). Become panic independent. No excuse for procrastonators panic crying on the net because everybody is lined up at the gun shops and the lgs and online shelves are bare.

[Mainah]

So does mine.

Sorry to hear that. I told my wife (well, I asked her, I don't get to tell her anything) that I'd get the mail out of the box and handle package deliveries. I can see the postal truck deliver on our street from my home office every day, and I don't know if I could have designed a better system to spread the virus.

I use a dog poop bag to open the box and handle the mail, it's 90% junk and I process the important stuff outside.

The virus can live on paper and cardboard for for at least 24 hours. Also important to remember when handling cash.

[NobodyJones]

Road_Clam,

I'm not a reloader, perhaps I should be, but I purchase ammo the way you purchase supplies. Small amounts, consistently, over time. When the panic hits I have no need to panic buy because I have already bought.

[xtrarnds]

People are worried. Not sure when gun stores will be closed or when they will re-open. Without ammo guns are paperweights.