# Why are people in the southeast hoarding/stockpiling ammo? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 20, 2013, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-in-the-southeast-hoarding-stockpiling-ammo/656198 "2013-04-20T07:36:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-in-the-southeast-hoarding-stockpiling-ammo/656198/41 "2013-04-20T20:40:15Z")
Never underestimate the power of the email forwards that some people are so fond of. Some junior state senator somewhere proposes a fve dollar tax per bullet. Everyone that knows how legislation works understands that it will never go anywhere. All the same, a bazillion emails go out and are fowarded to “everyone you know!!!” saying “look, look what **they** are trying to do! **They** are proposing a five dollar per bullet tax!” Then people jump up and run to Walmart to stock up. I can’t link to one of those emails at the moment, people gradually learned not to send them to me anymore.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tequila\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a6a055/32.png) [@Tequila\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tequila_Party)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-in-the-southeast-hoarding-stockpiling-ammo/656198/42 "2013-04-20T20:40:31Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > You were correct; OP is trolling. I vote to lock this thread. Also, is it ok to accuse someone of trolling outside the pit? ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-in-the-southeast-hoarding-stockpiling-ammo/656198/43 "2013-04-20T20:48:06Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > 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. Yes, I gathered that by now. Gave them too much credit and assumed they must have valid, legal, and political reasons for their actions and words. I came home and asked the husband if he had enough ammo for spring turkeys and the fall hunting season. He laughed it off and said “I only need as many bullets as tags.” ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-in-the-southeast-hoarding-stockpiling-ammo/656198/44 "2013-04-20T20:51:42Z")
> [@Tequila\_Party](#): > > Also, is it ok to accuse someone of trolling outside the pit? Probably not, but since the mods haven’t done anything to deal with this thread then it’s understandable. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-in-the-southeast-hoarding-stockpiling-ammo/656198/45 "2013-04-20T20:52:18Z")
> [@stoplight](#): > > 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. Yes my understanding is that pigs are pretty tough. I’ve never shot one but if I wanted a clean kill on one I’m not sure I’d use a .223. They are making ARs in a few different calibers now, mostly bigger and more powerful than the .223. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-in-the-southeast-hoarding-stockpiling-ammo/656198/46 "2013-04-20T20:53:59Z")
> [@Troppus](#): > > Yes, I gathered that by now. Gave them too much credit and assumed they must have valid, legal, and political reasons for their actions and words. I came home and asked the husband if he had enough ammo for spring turkeys and the fall hunting season. He laughed it off and said “I only need as many bullets as tags.” Hunting doesn’t use significant ammunition, I hunt several different things throughout the year and aside from a round here or there to keep the guns sighted in most hunters aren’t going to fire more than 1-2 shots per kill. Many animals you hunt if you fire and miss the animal flees so quickly you can’t get another good shot off (I only shoot when I’ll get what I deem to be a lethal shot on the animal, so I wouldn’t shoot at a fleeing deer even though I could definitely hit it–because I won’t be able to guarantee a lethal shot.) The people these ammo scares really hurt are the guys who just enjoy shooting at the range on the weekends, as they use a lot of ammo and it’s a pain when you can’t find any. I’m luckily not one of those people, but hoarders are annoying and stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-in-the-southeast-hoarding-stockpiling-ammo/656198/47 "2013-04-20T20:55:32Z")
> [@Troppus](#): > > Okay, can you point me towards more of the “many”? The assault rifle discussion is only one I’m aware of. By the way, which assault rifles take .22 shells? None. There is no such thing as an assault rifle. ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-in-the-southeast-hoarding-stockpiling-ammo/656198/48 "2013-04-20T20:57:03Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > None. There is no such thing as an assault rifle. Elaborate. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-in-the-southeast-hoarding-stockpiling-ammo/656198/49 "2013-04-20T21:03:48Z")
Shotgun shells seem to be pretty easy to buy. I think most ammo hoarders do realize that no one’s looking to ban them. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-in-the-southeast-hoarding-stockpiling-ammo/656198/50 "2013-04-20T21:05:31Z")
**Magiver** is incorrect. In military terms an assault rifle is a selective fire rifle with a detachable magazine, used as the main battle rifle for many armies since the 60s on. Selective fire means you can switch between automatic and semiautomatic fire modes as well as burst fire modes on some rifles. Assault weapon on the other hand is a much vaguer term from the 1990s Assault Weapons Ban and subsequent debates that has less descriptive value. Technically semiautomatic rifles civilians buy, even AR-15 variants and what have you would not be considered assault rifles in military terms because they are not selective fire. They only fire semiautomatic. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-in-the-southeast-hoarding-stockpiling-ammo/656198/51 "2013-04-20T21:06:35Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > 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. DHS ammunition contracts are large and have options for additional amounts. According to the Washington Times the contracts save money. “DHS officials said in fiscal year 2012 the agency purchased 103 million rounds and used 88 million rounds for training, and 28 million rounds during actual operations.” Doing the math, they seem to be shooting quite a few people and are over their allotment so maybe they need the discount. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-in-the-southeast-hoarding-stockpiling-ammo/656198/52 "2013-04-20T21:09:27Z")
> [@Troppus](#): > > Elaborate. [Assault Rifle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assault_rifle) ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-in-the-southeast-hoarding-stockpiling-ammo/656198/53 "2013-04-20T21:10:41Z")
Also if by .22 you mean the common .22LR cartridge I am not familiar with any assault rifles that use that round but it’s not impossible. It’s not a round typically used for military purposes and that is the market for assault rifles. But the standard cartridge on many assault rifles is the 5.56x45mm NATO round which is .224 in diameter and derived from the Remington .223. There are many civilian variant semiautomatics of these assault rifles which use those rounds and I do believe some civilian variants that actually use .22LR rounds (that would be for target shooting in many cases, a lot of pistols/odd rifles in the .22LR are geared towards target shooters.) ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-in-the-southeast-hoarding-stockpiling-ammo/656198/54 "2013-04-20T21:10:42Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > [Assault Rifle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assault_rifle) That’s what I pictured. Is there, or isn’t there a ban on these weapons? And what does this mean? > [@Magiver](#): > > None. There is no such thing as an assault rifle. ---
**Author:** ![stoplight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@stoplight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stoplight)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-in-the-southeast-hoarding-stockpiling-ammo/656198/55 "2013-04-20T21:10:43Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > **Magiver** is incorrect. In military terms an assault rifle is a selective fire rifle with a detachable magazine, used as the main battle rifle for many armies since the 60s on. Selective fire means you can switch between automatic and semiautomatic fire modes as well as burst fire modes on some rifles. > > Assault weapon on the other hand is a much vaguer term from the 1990s Assault Weapons Ban and subsequent debates that has less descriptive value. > > Technically semiautomatic rifles civilians buy, even AR-15 variants and what have you would not be considered assault rifles in military terms because they are not selective fire. They only fire semiautomatic. Correct..back in the day, in the military, we called them assault rifles because that is what they were designed to do. Assault weapon/rifle does not translate in the civilian world because there is no appropriate application for its use. ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-in-the-southeast-hoarding-stockpiling-ammo/656198/56 "2013-04-20T21:16:37Z")
Hey, can you guys talk to the layman OP please? I get that the terminology is polarizing, so just tell me what gun enthusiasts call “assault rifles” and continue the conversation. I can’t learn if you talk around me. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-in-the-southeast-hoarding-stockpiling-ammo/656198/57 "2013-04-20T21:17:52Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > **Magiver** is incorrect. In military terms an assault rifle is a selective fire rifle with a detachable magazine, used as the main battle rifle for many armies since the 60s on. Selective fire means you can switch between automatic and semiautomatic fire modes as well as burst fire modes on some rifles. > > Assault weapon on the other hand is a much vaguer term from the 1990s Assault Weapons Ban and subsequent debates that has less descriptive value. > > Technically semiautomatic rifles civilians buy, even AR-15 variants and what have you would not be considered assault rifles in military terms because they are not selective fire. They only fire semiautomatic. And being semiautomatic the term doesn’t apply. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-in-the-southeast-hoarding-stockpiling-ammo/656198/58 "2013-04-20T21:23:41Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > "DHS officials said in fiscal year 2012 the agency purchased 103 million rounds and used 88 million rounds for training, and **28 million rounds during actual operations."** > > Doing the math, they seem to be shooting quite a few people and are over their allotment so maybe they need the discount. That’s a lot of bullets used. What are they hunting? Paper targets? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-in-the-southeast-hoarding-stockpiling-ammo/656198/59 "2013-04-20T21:25:15Z")
> [@Troppus](#): > > Hey, can you guys talk to the layman OP please? I get that the terminology is polarizing, so just tell me what gun enthusiasts call “assault rifles” and continue the conversation. I can’t learn if you talk around me. It is the difference between full automatic which fires continuously and semiautomatic which does not. Most guns, including revolvers are semiautomatic. They will fire once with each pull of the trigger. You can own a machine gun with full automatic capability but that requires a specific (and expensive) license to own. That is not what the former ban or possible future bans involve. The controversy over magazine size should be self explanatory. The controversy is that many people prefer pistols with 10 to 20 round magazines. There are rifles with 30 60 and even 100 round magazines. [NY just banned anything over 7 rounds](http://www.uticaod.com/latestnews/x2082715980/NY-to-reverse-ban-on-magazine-size-in-gun-law) so that effectively eliminates all clip style hand guns although the governor says you just have to limit the number to 7 in the clip. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-in-the-southeast-hoarding-stockpiling-ammo/656198/60 "2013-04-20T21:27:54Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > That’s a lot of bullets used. What are they hunting? Paper targets? I don’t know. they said the majority of it was used by the Border Patrol. I don’t have any numbers handy to break down the numbers but it sounds like a whole lot of border agents doing something. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-in-the-southeast-hoarding-stockpiling-ammo/656198.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-in-the-southeast-hoarding-stockpiling-ammo/656198.md?page=4)