The New Normal

I see a lot of comments on the internet about different things concerning guns, gun laws, gun rights, scarcity, etc. And I think it's important to note a few things going forward that we all need to come to grips with. The sooner we accept these things the better off we'll all be.

This thing that we're currently seeing; this buying frenzy; this scarcity of guns and ammo is going to be the new normal for at least a few more years. And, to make matters even worse, it seems like the prices have been adjusted for the long haul, as well.

For marketing purposes and even in investing, we use a term that says this: We've reached higher highs, and higher lows. This means that there is no end in sight for the price increases, and when it does finally come back down it won't be anywhere near what we were paying before.

A while back I wrote an article called Buy guns now while you can, and I'm not sure how many people listened to me and looking back I wish I had bought more ammo. But in it I discussed the multitude of reasons why it was a good idea all the way back in 2017 to buy guns and ammo.

One of those reasons was because a DJT presidency would at some point be coming to a close and that some anti-gun legislator with a pen would take over and ruin all of our fun, thus increasing the prices. Well, barring some miracle, we're coming up to that point quickly.

This, coupled with all the other crap going on right now in the world, has made our chosen ammunition calibers that much harder to find, and when we do find them we've got to be willing to pay for it. And the truth of the matter is that the price of ammo isn't going to be coming back to earth any point in the near future. How do I know?

Well, market analysis is one thing, but let's try to remember for a moment that I owned an ammo distributorship for almost two years (I'm actually drawing a blank on how long it was because I'm trying to forget a bad business dealing). But the point is that I have experience with this stuff and can tell that we're screwed for the long haul.

Remember, higher highs and higher lows. And each time Federal's website lists 9mm ammo for sale the price is increased by at least two dollars. Those are the straight from the manufacturer prices, meaning that it's much higher elsewhere. If you were to go out to your local gun shop one day like I did you'd be in for some sticker shock.

I saw a box of Tul .223 for $50.

Fifty dollars. For Tul.

Tul is the cheap, dirty steal cased ammo that works in a pinch but nobody actually ever wants to shoot.

To be honest, they were the only shop in the area with .223 so they could charge whatever they wanted. But, being that they likely had to buy from a third party source, instead of direct from the manufacturer or distributor, where they get the best deals, they probably had to charge that price just to get their money back.

That is the sad state of things right now, and it'll only get worse.

In all honesty it is going to get harder for the smaller gun shops to run a successful business as time goes on in this gun economy and we'll need to support them however we can. I was talking to one gun shop owner who was making an attempt at buying a large sum of ammo from a big manufacturer who I won't name because this is admittedly hearsay at this point, but the order was cancelled.

I'm taking the gun shop owner at his word, but apparently what happened is that $15K was needed as a minimum order amount, which was then upped to a larger minimum order amount with the previous order being cancelled.

The gun store had to scrape the original sum together, and ended up being unable to buy any ammo to sell his customers. This obviously creates an ammo shortage in my community.

And I'm sure that if this is going on in my little neck of the woods that it's happening everywhere. This forces all of us to buy ammunition online, which also just happens to be one of the things the anti-gunners want to go after.

We are coming up to very interesting times and I have to say that I don't really like where I think we're headed.

So, this is the new normal my friends. These ammo prices are not coming down anytime soon and stuff will continue to be hard to find into the foreseeable future. And as a result, it will be harder for us to train at the range and fight our battles.

Leave your thoughts on this in the comments below.

About Joshua Gillem

Josh is a lifelong practitioner and student of the gun. He grew up shooting/hunting with his dad, and was given his first gun, a 12 gauge shotgun, when just a small boy. After high school, he joined the Marines where his love for firearms blossomed as he qualified with an M16A2, an M9, and a 240G. Josh has been writing about firearms and tactics for several years, owns the blog Gunners Den, is a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment, and believes that each individual person has the right to self-defense by any means necessary. Currently residing in gun-friendly NC, he carries a concealed gun on a daily basis, even in his own house.

4 Comments

  1. Nicole on November 20, 2020 at 7:54 pm

    I found .380 ACP for around .30 cents a round! GOT LUCKY!

    • Robert OBrien on November 22, 2020 at 11:02 pm

      This hysteria is largely unfounded, so I don’t understand why this author is propagating it. There hasn’t been any major gun legislation passed in the last 26 years. Obama was in office for 2 terms and nothing was passed, but I still remember this same crap before he took office. The closest we’ve even come to gun control laws was when Trump enacted the Bump Stock ban after the Las Vegas massacre. Even if someone was able to propose legislation at this point, it would be killed in the Senate which hasn’t flipped yet, though we don’t know how Georgia will turn out in January. Should Democrats actually have majority control of all 3 branches, and somehow every Democrat was on board with gun legislation (which isn’t even a guarantee as more than a few of them were elected in largely Republican areas and would like to stay in office), you can bet every case would be fought up to the Supreme Court which is now majority Republican. The odds of any major gun legislation being enacted while Biden is in office and actually upheld is so remote as to be in the realm of the boogeyman. So let’s all take a deep breath and calm the hell down. Let’s stop doing to guns and ammo what we’ve been suffering with toilet paper and Chlorox Wipes. Of course the prices are going to keep going up as the demand keeps being pressed this hard. Let’s stop metaphorically shooting ourselves in the foot by continuing this panic buying. You can’t blame this one on the Democrats at this point. It’s all our own doing and has been every time in the past, too. Let’s try using logic for once. That stuff between our ears is for more than keeping out the breeze.

  2. Gary on November 23, 2020 at 6:40 am

    Didn’t you just write an article last week on where to buy 9 mm ammo, now?

    I know things are tough but they won’t last forever.

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