# Panic buying has started



## dovehunter (Dec 18, 2007)

I was in a popular gun show here in Houston this weekend. I have never seen it this packed with buyers/on lookers. Prices of guns have gone up, especially the AR's and AK's. A month ago, a Rock River AR can be had for as little as $850, the same gun was being sold by the same dealer at $1,300. He had a bunch in stock, by the time I left, around 12:30, he had 1 left. People where lined up buying all the clips they can find. It was the same situation in the ammo dealers. People were carting away thousands not hundreds of 223's & 7.62's. It was a good think, I already had bought my share on line 3 weeks ago. Prices of the ammo were still okay.

Anyway, also this weekend I went to a sporting goods store and they still had some AR's by Smith&Wesson for $925. Might be a good buy, considering what they were asking/paying for in the gun show.


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## twodogs (Oct 15, 2007)

Based on the President-elect's past comments & actions, along with the democratic majority in congress, it is understandable why people are in a rush to buy. I am buying ammo & another gun that I wouldn't otherwise be buying.


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## Growler67 (Sep 8, 2008)

Just started? I think it actually started a couple few weeks before the election. Prices from some vendors went up the day after and now the frenzy has all but dried up shelf stock of many things from many vendors. Production is now experiencing delays in filling orders because of it.


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## SuckLead (Jul 4, 2006)

Yeah, I know Colt is at least a year out on orders now. Traffic was picking up before the election, but I'd say it really hit hard the Friday and Saturday after the election. Where I am, we have maybe an AR left in the shop, we've gone through at least 50 since that Friday. And we can't keep Glocks and HKs on the shelf.

The other thing flying off the shelf that is also hard to get from distributors are snub nosed revolvers.


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## Double0 (Nov 17, 2008)

I know I'm buying


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## JagFarlane (Jul 23, 2008)

There was another thread about this in the political discussion area. But yeah I've seen remnants of that here too. Last weekend, I went to pick up scope rings for my new X-bolt, and watched as a guy bought $500 worth of ammo, assorted between slugs, .45 ACP and .223. Funny thing is, with the panic buyers, even if Obama gets new gun laws passed, he and the Dem Congress won't take office for another 2 months, and it will take months more for them to pass new gun laws. Especially when one takes into account that the economy and the war in Iraq are much hotter issues for them.


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## JeffWard (Aug 24, 2007)

There's not ONE retailer in Orlando, or on-line that has mags for the full size M&P. There are compact mags around. Not even 10-round mags.

Smith and Wesson is giving away 2 free additional mags with purchse of any gun, but their backlog is 10-12 weeks! The distributors are out. MecGar can't make aftermarket mags fast enough.

There's plenty of Glock, XD, Beretta, 1911, and other mags out there.

I'm actually BORROWING 3 mags so that I will have 5 to shoot my match this weekend!

The stores around me have bumped up the prices on all the ARs and AKs by about 20%, and they're still flying of the shelves.

I think it will all settle down in December, but it is crazy right now,.. We'll see what the Orlando gun show on the 29th brings...

Jeff


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## nky1129 (Nov 3, 2008)

I think a lot of the recent buyers were people who were thinking about buying anyway, and were just nudged a little bit by the recent political news. I know that's how it was for me. I'd been on the fence about what, where, and when to buy, and about two weeks before the election I decided to pull the trigger :anim_lol: on a Glock 19. It wasn't so much about what I thought was GOING to happen. It was more about what I thought COULD happen. It just happened that I had the extra money, and was able to find a deal on a new gun. As long as prices around here (Northern Kentucky) stay a little lower than what I'm hearing is the MidWest average, I'll probably add some hi-cap magazines and ammo every now and then. I imagine I'll feel a stronger sense of urgency the closer we get to Inauguration Day, but for now, I'll take it slow.

I did talk to the owner of the shop where I got the G19, and he said that shotgun and rifle sales were down, compared to pistol sales. The last time I was there he had maybe 15 used pistols ranging in price from $200 to $1100. Now he has 0.


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## P97 (May 8, 2006)

I'm waiting for the people that are buying now to have to sell the guns to buy food and pay utilities after they lose their jobs, then I can buy at my price.


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## JagFarlane (Jul 23, 2008)

P97 said:


> I'm waiting for the people that are buying now to have to sell the guns to buy food and pay utilities after they lose their jobs, then I can buy at my price.


Sounds like a good plan


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## SuckLead (Jul 4, 2006)

P97 said:


> I'm waiting for the people that are buying now to have to sell the guns to buy food and pay utilities after they lose their jobs, then I can buy at my price.


Man, I've had guys use their mortgage payments to buy guns before when there was no "panic." Sad as that is.


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## P97 (May 8, 2006)

An interesting E-mail I got this morning from Guns-America !

Hi Everyone, 
Not really to not take the alarmist, scare tactic route but we feel compelled to email the hundreds of thousands of casual gun people who come here every month (in addition to the hundreds of thousands of gun nuts) that the election of Barack Obama is almost definitely going to bring changes to the gun laws in the form of new taxes and hoops for gun dealers to jump through, as well as permanent bans on individuals selling firearms themselves. 

The days of being able to bring grandpa's old guns to a gun show and sell them off in an afternoon are probably going to be gone within a short amount of time after President Elect Obama gets into office. 

Most likely the entire American tradition of the gunshow will disappear.


There is a lot of media attention today about people in a frenzy to BUY GUNS, because they are afraid that they won't be able to get them. 

But for those of us with closets full of guns we don't and most likely will never shoot, guns that we've procrastinated selling, there is a genuine danger to our ability to be to SELL THOSE GUNS OURSELVES in the future. 

So if you don't want to end up losing 30% of their value because you have to transfer the gun out through a gun dealer, get moving and sell them now. 

The DEMAND FOR GUNS IS HUGE. We have record traffic on GunsAmerica, and the gunshows are a zoo. 

Take the time and sell your guns now, at a gunshow, on GunsAmerica, or any other legal venue. 

And remember, if you ship a gun to someone, it has to be sent to a transfer FFL dealer in their state. There is no legal way to ship a gun to an individual, unless they personally are a Curio & Relic FFL holder, which only applies to old and collectible guns that are specifically on the list at the ATF website. 

Some states have restrictions on individuals shipping out guns themselves as well. Ask a dealer in your state. We do not give legal advice. It is your responsability to ship guns out legally.

Also consider buying ammunition for the guns you have. There will almost definitely be a new tax coming on ammo. 

That's all for now. We felt compelled to send something letting those detached from the problem know what is almost definately coming. 

-ga


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## JagFarlane (Jul 23, 2008)

Went to a local gun show today, mostly out of boredom, and on the offhand chance I find a decently priced long gun.
It...was insane. Could not move without bumping into people [fortunately most were polite] and honestly, you would have had to have worked hard to find an assault rifle style firearm that was close to the MSRP. I saw ones that that were marked up an easy $500 over MSRP. And of course, the dealers are feeding off of the fear, overheard one saying to a woman "Between now and January is the best time to buy, after that good luck"


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## SuckLead (Jul 4, 2006)

JagFarlane said:


> Went to a local gun show today, mostly out of boredom, and on the offhand chance I find a decently priced long gun.
> It...was insane. Could not move without bumping into people [fortunately most were polite] and honestly, you would have had to have worked hard to find an assault rifle style firearm that was close to the MSRP. I saw ones that that were marked up an easy $500 over MSRP. And of course, the dealers are feeding off of the fear, overheard one saying to a woman "Between now and January is the best time to buy, after that good luck"


Yeah, the gun show here last weekend, I saw an M&P15 with an Eotech and foregrip marked up to $6800. A WASR10 at $1000. It was just stupid. And see, where I work we're reminding customers that even if he tackled gun control on his very first day in office, it would probably be at least Fall '09 before anything was even decided.


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## Mach One Man (Jan 11, 2008)

I guess it all depends on how much of a gambler you are. Ammo has drastically increased over the last 2 years without any fear of taxes. I'm loading up on ammo & reloading supplies! Maybe 1 moke black rifle :smt023


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## JagFarlane (Jul 23, 2008)

Mach One Man said:


> I guess it all depends on how much of a gambler you are. Ammo has drastically increased over the last 2 years without any fear of taxes. I'm loading up on ammo & reloading supplies! Maybe 1 moke black rifle :smt023


Ammo has increased due to a couple of different factors. The obvious factor is the increased demand due to the war for 9mm and 5.56.
There is also the increased shipping costs, and increased cost of raw materials, partially due to the commodities being traded on the stock market.


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## tekhead1219 (May 16, 2008)

Went to my local Wally World to get some ammo for me and my wife to shoot up. I was surprised to see their ammo case empty of 9mm, .40, and .45 ammo. Asked the clerk when and why the run started, and she told me since Obama was elected and said he was going to raise taxes 500% on ammo. Pretty sure this is just the rumor I've been seeing on the 'net and hopefully not a fact. Wouldn't surprise me though. Put my name on a list for a couple of cases when they come in anyway.


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## Keef.44 (Nov 27, 2008)

are those that are storing up all the ammo the same ones who have several containers full of $4.00 gasoline in the shed out back? 

Hussein will get about as much done as any other president has....I "hope".


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## Drake69 (Dec 4, 2008)

I dunno, but if the turnout at the gun show this weekend was any indication, there's definitely something to the hysteria surrounding it. If ammo wasn't being picked up in bulk, a LOT of new gun sales were being made. I went to look for some deals on 15~20 mags for my 9mm Beretta and the prices were extravagent for even those. At least I got me a good holster and cleaning kit for a decent price. :mrgreen:


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