Poetic Ammo Justice is served!

[Aguila Blanca]

Never said anything about government regulations... It's not true free market when supply is artificial.

There is nothing "artificial" about the current ammo supply. It is an example of the free market at work. The problem is that demand spiked VERY rapidly (almost instantaneously), while supply (production) needs time to respond to sudden increases in demand. Production will increase ... several of the U.S. ammo makers have announced that they are expanding their production capacity, and Armscor has announced that they are building a new ammo production facility in Nevada to supplement their ammo production in the Philippines. But building new factories and adding new machines and training new workers doesn't happen overnight.

Large ammo sellers like Wal-Mart, Cabelas, Sportsmans Guide, Natchez, etc., could legally exploit the current situation by raising their prices. Ammo isn't price-regulated, so that wouldn't be illegal. But they know that -- eventually -- supply will increase and demand will stabilize, at which point they can foresee a backlash if they were to try to gouge now. So, whether their motives are entirely honorable or if they are only holding their prices to avoid a backlash later, I credit the big sellers for NOT bumping their prices, or even auctioning off ammo to the highest bidder.

The people who are buying it to flip are opportunists -- jackals. What they are doing isn't illegal, but it is certainly immoral. Is it free market at work? Yes, it is -- free BLACK market. But the current ammo market supply situation is not artificial. For it to be artificial, either the manufacturers would have to be conspiring to limit their production to less than their actual capacity, or the government would have to be somehow manipulating the supply. I don't see either happening.

 

[thedudeabides]

Scream about "free markets" and whatnot, scalping isn't capitalism. These people don't produce anything, they don't manufacture or ship, they aren't creative or innovative, they just take advantage of a bad situation.

And it's because of them that you can't buy more than 100 rounds of ammo at any local gun stores--even Wal Mart.

 

[BigD_in_FL]

It ain't free-market and all that Econ 101 stuff. These people are scalpers and if they did this with food or gas during a disaster, they would get hauled in by the authorities at the very least. At the very worst, they'd get beaten and/or killed.

There is NO scalping, NO gouging, nothing of the sort. Too many here, it seems, are either underfunded to pay the current market price for the commodity in question, or did not prepare enough in advance (like after the FIRST election)
Try watching this video about why it is NOT gouging: - even during a disaster - (takes only a few minutes):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9QEkw6_O6w

 

[BigD_in_FL]

These people don't produce anything, they don't manufacture or ship, they aren't creative or innovative, they just take advantage of a bad situation.

WOW......

I guess we need to include EVERY retailer in that group from grocery stores to big box chains

Some folks just don't get it..............

 

[Onward Allusion]

Too many here, it seems, are either underfunded to pay the current market price for the commodity in question, or did not prepare enough in advance (like after the FIRST election)

During the '09 panic, I made daily trips to the Wally World by my work and visited another 2 Wally World every other day. At the beginning, there were no limits. I COULD HAVE have purchased the entire display case of all the popular calibers if I wanted to. I NEVER did that. I always only picked up a couple/few boxes of 9mm & 40S&W and maybe a box of 38 spl so that other shooters could get ammo. I guess I'm a straight shooter that way.

You know what? I haven't purchased ANYTHING except for 12 gauge during this panic. I have all the ammo I need for the next 5 years. I still run to the sites to see if I can grab a box when I receive an email notification, but that's more for fun than anything else. Yes, I need to get out more.

These AH's who are doing what I did during the last panic BUT ARE CLEANING OUT the shops with multiple visits in the same day to bypass the limit requirements using different clerks are creating an artificial scarcity of supply. If this were a real disaster/emergency and ammo was one of the things that would mean life or death, these guys would not do well.

Aside from the ethical violations, there are laws against scalping in most places. If people want to call laws regulations and are impediments against Capitalism & the Free-Market, so be it. However, for anyone who has taken any type of university level courses beyond 100 level's, they will know that SOME regulations ARE required to create a sustainable system. So, this ain't real free-market what these jokers are doing.

If everyone who is completely fed up with this scalping crap online, go buy some ammo from these guys. Get their info. Find out what their State Laws are. Give their State AG office a call. This "scarce" supply will disappear fairly quickly. I said IF. So, don't y'all go out and do that...

 

[Evan Thomas]

This horse is sausage; the subject of price gouging, scalping, hoarding and whatnot has been ground, stuffed, and smoked in any number of other threads.

We have enough in the freezer to last us for the rest of the year...