If you want rational reasons for this behavior then you won’t find any because there aren’t any. Otherwise, you are not asking questions which have factual answers that can be provided here because it calls for the knowledge of the workings of a person’s mind. You should ask to have this thread moved to IMHO or GD if you want people to explain their own reasoning.
You were correct; OP is trolling. I vote to lock this thread.
The initial rumor, which I heard from many different people, was something along the line of “If they can’t take your guns, they’ll just make ammo impossible to get.”
There was a nasty feedback loop in effect as well. People began hoarding ammo because prices started escalating, which in turn caused things to get really nasty. Many were stockpiling because they, for whatever reason, keep certain minimal levels of ammo on hand. Others were scalping. Human nature and economics are largely immutable things, it would seem.
I’ve been without any .45 ammo for over six months just because I don’t want to pay so much. I have plenty of other hobbies to tide me over 
Leo, I reported the insult in your first post. You can take a break now.
Yes, I am looking for factual answers. One of the speakers in the conversation last night has a Master’s in Education and is informed me he is returning to school for a degree in Administration. The police officer was a VA state trooper and has been a county officer for the last five years. I assumed that they had some valid reasons to hoard, drive hours out of the way, and obsess over something that my husband the competitive shooter and avid hunter is not concerned with.
For the rest of you sniping posters who refuse to contribute or worse, provide FOX news links, the 16 gun safe in this house is full. We have two freezers full of deer, duck, turkey, bighorn, and one nuisance bear no one wants to eat and a wall full of trophies for skeet tourneys. And even if that weren’t true, you have no reason to be jerks in GQ. If you can’t answer or have an agenda, you have plenty of other forums to play in.
Hey, here’s an idea. Would you like photos of the guns, safe, and/or trophies in my home? Do I owe a handful of snide, paranoid posters that evidence? Doubt it, but I’m game. You guys give yourselves a bad name. You don’t need curious people like me to do that.
Same situation here. I haven’t been able to buy .22 ammo for months because I’m not willing to take off work on Thursday mornings to go wait in line. Additionally, people who have never had guns are arming themselves and getting carry permits. Carry permits are pretty easy to get here but the wait times are long because the system is jammed.
There are .22LR versions of nearly all “assault rifles” as well as conversion kits to make a centerfire gun shoot (much cheaper) .22 ammo.
The proposed legislation regarding “assault rifles” includes .22 versions even though the round is not considered a good defense (or offense) round.
Thank you. That’s what I wanted to know. So the assault rifle thing is the only concrete proposal, and the rest just snowballed on that? No other pending legislation that will prevent hunters, sportsmen or those who carry small arms for protection? (I’m not asking about collectors; I assume the assault weapons are favored by those people since they have little other practical application)
This simply isn’t a factual question, that seems to be what the OP doesn’t get. I’d submit you’re ignorant of current events if you are unaware of gun control legislation. Dianne Feinstein proposed basically a new and updated version of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban, the Vice President lead a commission looking into what gun control should be passed and came back with basically saying the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban should be more or less brought back as well as strengthened background checks.
In some States there have been state level proposals to ban certain types of ammunition link, for example if the Wisconsin ban was in place it would essentially make hunting deer with a gun impossible in Wisconsin.
That’s really about all there has been, is a proposed AWB renewal, some new background check laws, and a collection of state laws regulating various things, some of which have passed and some of which are just proposed.
But what you’re actually asking is why two people you know are concerned about ammunition availability while your husband isn’t. That’s not a factual question, you’re asking us to explain why someone thinks something. There are many people who are concerned about the supply of ammunition because of a recent spate of renewed interest in gun control legislation. If you are looking to a specific “hard” link between a specific piece of legislation and specific people’s fear of ammunition supply you aren’t going to find one. Instead what you’ll find is varying justifications from individuals.
Contrary to what many believe rifles such as the AR-15 are widely used for hunting. They are considered underpowered (in .223) for deer and are actually banned for use in some places for that reason. The AR is very popular among coyote hunters. In fact several ar manufacturers market models specifically for coyotes. they generally have long barrels for increased accuracy and cammo finishes. They are also popular for groundhog, feral pigs and varmints in general. The AR is light, accurate and quick for followup shots. You don’t need to put 30 rounds in them all the time. I’d assume most hunters just carry a few rounds in the gun to keep the weight down.
I’m trying to “get it”. That’s why I asked in GQ. I’m still not clear how the assault rifles ban and the tougher background checks will harm the recreational shooter, the hunter, or those persons who carry for personal protection. I trust the people I was speaking with to be rational, intelligent folks, and as I’ve little interest in guns or gun control issues, I tend to skip articles that don’t make headlines and I’m not in the least bit trusting of lobbies. I expected someone to point me to ammo limits, ammo restrictions, or some other hindrance to the average sportsman.
Fear of the slippery slope? Take our assault rifles and our BB guns are next?
I had no idea. We are overrun with coyotes here (a taxidermied specimen lives here) and I’ve taken a couple wild .22 shots at two which were harrassing my ducks. I stay in the woods hiking, birdwatching, and taking photos. I’ve never heard more than two shots in sequence, and was unaware that anyone used auto or semi-auto weapons to varmit hunt.
Ah, darn it, forgot my friend in Tampa hunts feral hogs with these things. Thanks for the warning, but I know where food comes from and assume that more sensitive readers know better than to venture into threads about hunting. You’ve answered my question, thank you for taking the time. I asked the mods to close because I’m not interested in a debate. Thanks for being cool, River Hippie.
Also, ethical hunters and varmint hunters strive for quick, humane kills. That’s why you have heard one or two shots. No sense burning expensive ammo on an animal that’s already dead. Just because a gun can hold 10, 20, 30 rounds doesn’t mean you have to shoot that many times or that you have to put that many in the magazine.
You’re welcome, Troppus.
Whether there WAS a ban or a proposed ban or not isn’t relevant. There were RUMORS of such bans after Sandy Hook, which is all it takes.
You’re asking an economics question here, and economics is based on human behaviour. People don’t need actual legislation to think there MIGHT be legislation coming. That’s all it takes to start a supply run.
It’s kind of like when the weatherman forecasts there might be a really bad snow storm. Ever go to the supermarket that day? It’s like Armageddon with people buying massive hoards of food and supplies. And it’s not really rational, around these parts about the longest anyone’s been snowed in in the last 50 years is a weekend…not exactly a reason to collect a massive food hoard.
I hear you, but the forecast is pretty reliable. I mean, we can all see the map. And at least two of the people I was speaking with are pretty bright, rational people and so I wondered what recent developments we had overlooked (having been preoccupied with the first year of our child’s life).
As far as the flack I caught here for asking the question: the slippery slope argument is usually derided as the weakest, most baseless complaint, so I assumed there were concrete proposals to limit ammo. Since there isn’t anything other than the assault rifle ban (did, or didn’t go through?) I can safely assume that there aren’t any pending proposals or restrictions on ammunition or other recreational/personal protection weapons, right? The hoarding mentality is based solely on rumor and innuendo, and the only people responsible for the empty shelves are the hoarders themselves? No government conspiracy to deprive gun owners of access or ammo?
There are no pending pieces of Federal legislation that would restrict ammunition nor is the government actively engaged in a process to purchase all private ammunition supplies to deny private purchasers the ability to buy ammunition.
As I linked to, there have been proposed state level legislation on types of ammunition that can legally be sold. There have also been articles and such in newspapers where individuals have advocated “ammunition control” as an alternative line of attack to gun control.
It seems the problem here is you’re putting a lot of faith in two individuals and because of that you assumed there must be some clear cut ammunition banning legislation before Congress or well known policy of the government to buy up all the bullets. Like the majority of Americans it appears your two friends are reacting to things other than specifically proposed pieces of legislation. But no one can tell you what lead to them thinking this since that’s an individual position those two persons came to on their own.
Just to answer this one portion, the people I know who believe the rumors and panic do indeed think the government is behind all this.
We were in Phoenix visiting an old service buddy of mine and while there he took me to Cabelas, ammo shelves were mostly empty, especially the .223 rounds. His observation especially in a rather gun friendly state was all folks need to hear is the Fed is thinking about gun control again.
I hear they hunt pigs with knives in the southeast…out west we tend to use higher calibers, personally a 7mmag 120 gr. spitzer is spot on. A quite popular round for varmint and coyotes alike, 220 swift, high velocity, flat shooting round.