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Gun Sales Surge To Record High In 2013; Expect Ammo To Spike In 2014
A record 21 million applications were run through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) last year - an 8% increase over 2012 and, as The Washington Times reports, the 11th straight year that the number has risen. Background checks serve as a proxy for the number of gun sales, which soared in the months immediately after Sandy Hook (but notably fell in the last 2 months of 2013 as the Newtown and 'fear of Obama' effect wore off). "2013 was the best year for firearm sales (commercial, domestic) in history — period!" notes the president of the independent firearm owners association, adding that "Ammunition will still be very strong in 2014 as it hasn’t caught up nationally with the demand." This could become a problem since, in what many believe was an attempt to 'crowd out' private buyers, the Homeland Security Department bought 1.6 billion rounds alone.
Gun records checks, fueled by a post-Newtown boom of gun sales, hit a new high in 2013, and industry analysts expect ammunition to be the big seller this year as consumers catch up to all of those firearms purchases.
More than 21 million applications were run through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System last year, marking nearly an 8 percent increase and the 11th straight year that the number has risen.
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“2013 was the best year for firearm sales (commercial, domestic) in history — period! That’s true for NH to Hawaii,” said Richard Feldman, president of the Independent Firearm Owners Association in Rindge, N.H. “Ruger alone sold well over one million guns this year.”
Mr. Feldman said to expect the next surge to be in bullets.
“Ammunition will still be very strong in 2014 as it hasn’t caught up nationally with the demand,” he said.
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“I think there are a few downward pressures acting on the NICS checks,” he said. “Not just the Newtown effect wearing off, but the ‘fear of Obama’ effect wearing off.”
If ammunition does become the focus for gun owners, that could become another hot-button topic.
Last year, the Homeland Security Department had to explain to Congress its contracts to buy up to 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition.
Some gun owners believed the department was trying to crowd out private consumers in the ammunition market, but federal officials said their purchases amounted to a tiny fraction of the ammunition produced every year.
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Good for you for moving.
Moved my family from NJ a few months ago for many of the same reasons...smart thing to do.
Sweet sound of Freedom , or whats left of it.
Kind of on topic.....
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/01/07/epa-proposes-new-restrictions...
Get em while they are still hot!
Clearly, by the comment posts we are getting equiped. What is the end game?
Unknown. But the goal is to be completely psyched and ready when the unavoidable charging stampede arrives.
They're going to have to pry my 55 gallon drum improvised woodstove from my cold, dead fingers.
Home of the Slave, Land of the Fee.
I went to the old complex and saw my old cashier Persian armenian something or other. I asked him did you know there is an asteroid as close as close gets in range of earth.
He told me "everyday is asteroid". In that terrible accent .
I guess you had to be there
Any person that can use a drill press and a hacksaw can produce full auto sub machine guns in a home garage or shop. They can be produced so cheaply they can be disposable. This was common in France during the German occupation. Assassins walk up and spray the targets and toss the machine gun away. http://thehomegunsmith.com/
Dude. Home Depot will never look the same.
I wonder how many "watch" bots are plugged into the link?
Just like we were taught, it is the capability of the vehicle and the capabilty of the driver before that defines the usage. The same applies with fire-arms. Be neat, be clean.
Like I've been saying, the only things selling well are guns, ammo, lotto scratch-off tickets, Duck Dynasty T-shirts and Grand Theft Auto V. I believe the trend will continue in 2014.
I say again... even if you completely halted all ammo production, melted down every AR and AK in America, and waited ten years, there would still be *more than enough* bolt action rifles and ammo to utterly crush any attempt at martial law, FEMA camp fantasies, or occupation by domestic or foreign militaries.
Any percieved shortages of ammo only affect RECREATIONAL SHOOTING and would have virtually no real impact on the readiness of Americans to "go insurgent".
Oh yeah, "if" everything gets bad, "then," at that point, you'll really "go insurgent."
How bad does shit have to get?
Kristallnacht in the US-level bad, I think. Boston-bombing shelter-in-place in the top 20 metropolitan areas followed by house-to-house searches would pretty much trigger what he's talking about.
We haven't even begun to remotely see what "bad" is. I think TPTB are trying to avoid "bad" at all costs since it wakes some of the sheep up.
We've had shelter-in-place orders
We've had house to house searches
We've had obvious government attacks against civilians: Sandy Hook, Boston, hell you name it
Government gives guns to Mexicans in order to impugn the 2nd amendment - American killed
911 - obvious
etc etc etc etc
How about 1/2 your income in taxes,
foreign powers are allowed to lobby our government,
NSA spying, data given to foreign powers,
Russian and Chinese troops allowed to train for urban combat here in the US
Russian military allowed to inspect US nuclear sites
American generals fired and replaced by dual citizens
etc etc etc
Shall I go on?
The triggers have to be both local and nationwide. None of what you listed meets those requirements.
Not saying that they don't deerve a response, just saying that it's going to take up-close-and-personal government intervention, everywhere, for it to happen.
Whatever. Let me clarify.
I'm saying you are just another guy who likes to type tough on the internet.
I'm less than impressed.
No need to go insurgent until the system breaks itself. Soon. Risk is all on the other guys then.
I don't think there's much doubt that civilian ammo inventory eclipses anything the DHS could dream of. There is some impact on readiness since people can't train as much, however. I think it's fairly amusing that anyone in the government thinks restricting ammo would have much impact on crime or gun usability, as any active shooting enthusiast likely has enough ammo squirreled away to support tens to hundreds of others with what would be considered a basic loadout, and the bad guys only need one box of 50 to do their mayhem.
It's been established at the low end of the scale that there's 100 million plus gunowners in the US. Even if they all only had a box of 50 rounds when they bought the gun, that's 5 billion rounds, or roughly 3X what the DHS ordered -- and that's a ridiculously low estimate. If just 5% of the gunowners are active and have 2K rounds stored, that's another 10 billion rounds, and again, that's still a very low estimate. I suspect reality is probably 10X this or more.
I don't know all that many people who own guns. But most of them are well over 1000 rounds each. I suspect that your higher numbers are probably closer to the actual amount.
I did not even have a gun for some 20 years after selling my earlier ones (when I got married). Then Obama got elected. Then I went to town. Best gun salesman ever, now he is the best ammo salesman ever.
Hmm. I am still looking at that Springfield .308 with the muzzle break. Pricey (esp. w/ a good scope), but it would complement the other ones I have nicely.
So, 22mag, tell me you are going to take on an Abrams tank with its 5" gun with your bolt action rifle as it blows your house down! Or a minigun as it spits out 3600 rounds per minute and cuts your house in half, or even a Ma deuce as it destroys the basement your hiding in? Yout are an idiot!
We civilians already own mini-guns and M2HBs. We also know ambush tactics and how to operate the Abrams. Our military would get crushed by the citizen militia if they decided to start this shit.
$200 is cheap for this...
http://www.armslist.com/posts/1771344/minneapolis-minnesota-ammo-for-sale--7-62-x-51---308--hirtenberger-battle-packs--brass-boxer-match-grade-
Are you guys stocking up on high quality American bullets or are Chinese and Russian surplus bullets good enough for shooting schutzstaffel?
Both Spungo. Both work. I see it this way. No need to shoot it up if in fact the dreaded day/time comes. One will know what to do when it blows and there ass is on the line.
The Ammo surge will continue due to many factors.
#1. Metal price fluctuations and threat of future spikes.
#2. Preppers
#3. Obvious signs of continued decay in markets.
#4. Imports slowing down or seizing in surplus ammo.
#5. Buy it cheap stack it deep outlook.
#6. Some who were asleep are wakeing up to something not right. This one really will keep it going.
#7. Inflationnnnn.
My first score of 2014. A 250 ct case of Winchester 00 Buck 9 Pellet 1325 for 150.00. .64 a round for premium shells. Cheaper stuff that works can be had. Rio Royal works fine, esp in Semi Autos.
I agree. Anything below 70 cents for 12ga is bargain territory. I see .45acp is a great barometer for ammo prices as it has reached or exceeded 50 cents at Walmart and other retailers for 50 and 100 packs, while case quantity is hard to find. It's heavy to transport, uses lots of raw materials, and ever popular.
If you want to see some ammo inflation, look at military surplus 7.62x39 and 8mm Mauser... basically a 50% to 100% increase in one year.
Are those application numbers of 21 million correct? Beacuse if they are they were processed at the rate of 2 every three seconds.
Wow. What a system.
Maybe Obamacare should piggy back on the back of gun checks.
We're launching ammunition (Lead Bullion) sales at SDBullion next week and gun sales in the near future as well, and I can confirm that this is not hype like many claim, but in fact the cold hard truth.
Everything is on allocation. Everything. Several of the largest distributors in the US haven't seen any 9 mm ammo in months.
If you spend $30k (annually) to get on Browning's "Preferred Dealer" list...you have the "opportunity" to purchase 30 rifles from Browning...per year! Preferred dealers can purchase 1 gun every 2 weeks from one of the largest gun companies in the US!
I have to take issue with the idea that DHS purchased 1.6 billion rounds and crowded us all out of the ammo market. This story has taken on a life all its own and it has grown more and more garbled and fantastic with each retelling, like the Telephone Game. http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/04/04/The-Great-DHS-Ammunition-Stockpile-Myth This article debunks the conspiracy pretty well. Once again, our conspiracy believers have taken a rumor and run wild with it.
The ammo is scarce because we're buying it all up, ourselves. If you don't believe me, where is all the .22? Govt doesn't use .22. Where's all that surplus 8mm going? Govt don't use that. How about surplus .308 from overseas? Not the govt. How about Czech or Yugo or Russian surplus ammo? Not the govt. By the same token, .300 WinMag, .270, and other less common calibers have remained available for the last few years and the military DOES use .300 WinMag.
When I go to a gunshow, I see mountains of ammo, pallets of it, and I see it bought up by civilians. By the end of the show, those pallets are empty. The ammo is gone because we're the ones buying it up. The market has been getting better since last summer, although the renewed calls for gun control may change that. I'm hoping a lot of ammo and rifles will end up on the market when folks start to weigh the merits of having panic guns or paying bills.