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John Martin, owner of Shooter's Depot in Chattanooga, says demand has been so high for ammunition he has had to limit his stock to range members and not allow retail sales.(Photo: John Rawlston, AP)

Ammo shortage hitting gun owners, dealers hard

BY Josh Kerns  on February 21, 2013 @ 3:54 pm (Updated: 4:08 pm - 2/21/13 )

The nation's run on guns continues, and now gun owners and dealers say there's a huge shortage of ammunition that's leaving shelves bare and guns unloaded.

"It'd be like like running a restaurant and I can't put any food on your plate," complains Monty VanHoy, owner of Top Guns in Shoreline.

VanHoy says since President Obama was reelected, gun owners have been stocking up out of fear new laws would limit their access to guns and ammo. Months later, ammo makers still can't keep up.

"I've had calls all the way from Arizona, New Mexico, all over the United States for different calibers," VanHoy says.

It's more than just an inconvenience for gun owners. It's costing VanHoy and dealers nationwide thousands of dollars in lost sales every month.

"One of our customers drove all the way from Spokane just to get two boxes, decided to spend the night so he could buy two boxes today and drive back home," says Howard Walter with Wade's Guns in Bellevue, which is limiting sales of hard to get calibers including .22.

Walter says Wade's is at least in better shape than most dealers because the owner foresaw the shortage coming and stocked up before the election.

Walter says along with individuals stockpiling, The Department of Homeland Security and other agencies have been buying large amounts of several types of ammunition as well, further tapping the supply.

Going online isn't any better. Shoppers are finding most ammo is out of stock at even the biggest retailers.

"The warehouses are empty. We can't keep up," says VanHoy. And he says things aren't expected to improve any time soon. "By the time it comes in, there are so many back orders for people that are out of it they're gone probably within the first 30 minutes and a lot of places are only allowing one box per person."

Josh Kerns, MyNorthwest.com Reporter
Josh Kerns is co-host of KIRO Radio's Seattle Sounds (Saturday nights 7-8) and a digital content producer for MyNorthwest.com.
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Comments (46)


  • Add A Comment

  • Silverado wrote...
    It's Only Temporary - Like The Current Govt
    February 22, 2013 10:37 am
    Especially if they continue to....push the matter. It's only temporary as the ammunition manufacturers are adding capacity as well as adding shifts at some factories, according to what I've been reading (guns dot com for one). So as everyone knows the market will make up for these shortfalls. And if Washington DC would shut their mouths on gun control, we wouldn't be seeing these market gyrations that's telling any who would care to look that the majority of the populace has no interest in ANY more gun control measures and more than likely they don't TRUST Washington DC on the matter anymore either. They may as well get used to it - they will NEVER disarm America acting the way they do. They are the main reason that gun ownership, assault weapons included, is so....popular these days.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Saltchucker wrote...
    Where do you gun haters get the stones......
    February 22, 2013 11:00 am
    .....to insult and vilify people who you KNOW own firearms? Do you poke at and insult the biggest 'roid raging body builders at the gym too?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • sometimesrock wrote...
    huh?
    February 22, 2013 11:17 am
    Why? If you make fun of a gun owner.. are they going to shoot you? Gee.. what a responsible gun owner!!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SeattleNative wrote...
    A major reason for the shortage...
    February 22, 2013 11:01 am
    ...is that the Obama Administration had Homeland Security purchase 1.8 BILLION rounds in the past 9 months. Manufacturers are having a hard time keeping up with those federal orders.

    Why on earth does Homeland Security need 1.8 BILLION rounds of ammo? Is it simply to make ammo poorly available to the general public? Or are there other reasons?

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  • Jeff Schroeder wrote...
    Yep, yer right braintrust !
    February 22, 2013 11:12 am
    The Guvment gonna come after you with small arms ammo..not cruise missiles. They already got ya brainwashed with Budweiser and the Superbowl.....
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Drool wrote...
    If You Paranoid Nutbags Paid Attention
    February 22, 2013 11:19 am
    This was a multi year buy. The idea is to get a good price. They are not taking all the ammo at once like the dummies pushing the BS story seem to think.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Zoeller wrote...
    Drool: This was since last spring less than a year.
    February 22, 2013 11:34 am
    According to estimates just since last spring DHS has stockpiled more than 1.8 billion bullets, mainly .40 caliber and 9mm. That’s sufficient firepower to shoot every American about five times including illegal immigrants. (To provide some perspective, experts estimate that at the peak of the Iraq war American troops were firing around 5.5 million rounds per month. At that rate, DHS is armed now for a 24-year Iraq war. Why??? You will not see the Lame Stream Media reporting this anytime soon.
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  • HLC wrote...
    You'll never see a dimocrat in a gym.
    February 22, 2013 11:22 am
    Unless it's filled with some one elses little boys.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • hnuh wrote...
    02-22-2013 great thread...
    February 22, 2013 11:49 am
    lefty squak squakking like all get out. Who ya kidding? A firearm without ammunition is just an expensive and odd shaped club... or... if you got a pre ban AR15 with the HORRIFFIC!! OOOHH!! AWFUL!! bayonet lug!! it can be a spear! Boo!!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Iklwa wrote...
    ammo and component shortage
    February 22, 2013 12:13 pm
    Not only are there ammunition shortages but components for reloading (home manufacture) of ammunition are in extremely short supply. I have been fabricating my own ammunition for almost thirty years and have NEVER seen supply interruptions until the Obama administration. Who needs to worry about the regulation firearms ownership when there is no ammunition to fire in them? Hummm…
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  • hnuh wrote...
    lklwa
    February 22, 2013 12:22 pm
    How can I reduce my defect rate with the .223? I have excessive case crushing when seating the bullet. I trim, but I crush too many, is there something obvious I'm missing?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Saltchucker wrote...
    Case lube.
    February 22, 2013 2:03 pm
    Bottleneck rifle cases need a spray lubricant or a pad lube roll so they don't bind in the reloading dies. You might be loading too hot if you are trimming alot of case neck. Only so much brass in a case, and every time it's shot it expands. Then you trim it again....the case has that much less brass in it and it is no longer strong enough to handle the rigors of a resizing die. I don't reload 223, but on our belted magnums we hunt with dad and I neck size only to extend case life on those oh so spendy Weatherby cases.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • hpitantso wrote...
    Fishmaple
    February 22, 2013 2:34 pm
    Loser non-success and you'll always be a miserable loser and failure of a human being...So that how you took the 11/6/2012 election results when Obama smoked The R&R GOP Mitt and Muff ticket.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Zoeller wrote...
    hpitantso: Put down the pipe -
    February 22, 2013 3:16 pm
    Somebody slipped some crack into it.Oh, never it probably was you.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • longwayhome wrote...
    maplecarp
    February 22, 2013 6:06 pm
    Sure got on my case, didn't he? I must have struck a note about his phony alter ego on this site. We can be anyone we want here, the smaller the penis the bigger the ego, that about sums it up for the fish guy. I'm a little late posting here, I just got off a private jet with Howard Schultz discussing some plans for his new kitchen in his airplane hanger at Boeing Field. If you believe that, then you can believe anything that maplecrapforbrains has to say.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • longwayhome wrote...
    hlc
    February 22, 2013 6:32 pm
    Was mistaken in his preferred party of perversion. It's the REPUBLICANS that have that gene for young boys and airport restroom visits. And as a side note, Democrats are more likely to be physically fit than their lesser counterparts, the fat republican doughboy.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
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