Bullet Boy’s Life
If you have been following me on Twitter for awhile you know that I have been absent. Since about the first week of April until today I have been wide open with bits of time in between that I used to catch up on living.
I started off in April planning to work 7 - 10 hr day’s a week for 1 month and then move to 6 10’s for 6-7 weeks. Well that didn’t work out exactly as planned. In the world of Carpentry contract work the job only lasted 4 weeks before labor cut backs. So then I got day jobs a couple times a week in the same place for other companies for the next few weeks. Then without notice I got offered a really good job doing electrical work with a commercial construction company. Since being laid off from the initial job back at the first of March I have made a couple one day trips up and down the East Coast. At the electrical job I have managed to work quite a few hours and been very busy on the weekends catching up on things I missed during the Spring Work triathlon.
Speaking of triathlon I managed to loose about 10-15lbs and started to get some muscle tone back after having office jobs for the last few years. Work seems to be leveling off now and I have what I hope is a job for the summer and possibly even further with a good company. Things should be returning to normal around here for me soon.
The end of the week I will be shooting in the Alabama State Tactical Carbine Championship. Since I have not been practicing or even fired a weapon in a couple months I’m not sure I will be ready. After this weekend I’m sure to have plenty of ideas for post and catch up in all the goings on in the world. The debate over 2nd Amendment rights is heating up recently with the attachment of carry laws in national parks to a credit card bill. So the summer is looking pretty good from where I sit as a blogger but kind of rough and action packed as a 2nd Amendment Supporter. I am sure I will have more on that in the future.
Wish me luck as I get back in the saddle again.
CNN Says “Ammo hard to find as gun owners stock up”
CNN.com is reporting that Ammunition is “hard to find as gun owners stock up”. Demand for ammo is up - I predict a small part is supply is lower as some manufacturers are taking advantage (Just a guess with no way to back it up).
You can read the CNN.com Article, here.
AURORA, Colorado (CNN) — Gun shops across the country are reporting a run on ammunition, a phenomenon apparently driven by fear that the Obama administration will increase taxes on bullets or enact new gun-control measures.
“In the last two months it’s gotten very, very difficult to find ammunition,” says Richard Taylor, manager of The Firing Line, a gun shop and shooting range in the Denver, Colorado, suburbs.
“There are a lot of rumors floating around that the present government would like to increase taxes on ammunition. I think [there is] just a lot of panicked buying going on.”
While campaigning for the White House, Obama supported re-enacting the now-expired ban on assault weapons. But there is no indication that the administration will take up that measure — or any other gun-control initiative –anytime soon.
Nonetheless, some gun owners aren’t taking any chances.
Two weeks ago, The Firing Line was forced to impose a four-box-per-customer limit on ammo. Before that, the shop was selling 10,000 rounds of 9 mm handgun ammunition a day.
Some calibers of ammunition have been unavailable for months.
“Currently no .380 ammunition — I haven’t seen any for about four months … .38 special, it’s been at least a couple of months,” Taylor says. “It’s just that there’s been a huge demand and it’s far outweighed supply right now.”
Taylor says plenty of people are still coming to the range to shoot, but are gun owners hoarding ammo?
“People are buying cases or whatever they can get their hands on and putting it away, absolutely,” he says. “The only way that this shortage can have to do with it is that people are buying and hoarding.”
Karl Roos, a physician, stopped by the range to do some shooting with his Smith and Wesson .357-caliber Magnum, using some rounds from his personal stock of ammo.
“I have yet to see .38 special or .357 Magnum ammunition on the shelf. The stuff I’m shooting I’ve had for several years. I just haven’t seen it for the last several months,” says Roos, who adds he is always on the lookout for fresh sources of ammo. “As I’m doing the rounds of the local stores that carry ammunition, if I see something on the shelf I’ll buy it.”
“I’m not too worried about things being banned or anything like that,” he says. But he notes that many of his fellow gun enthusiasts are scared: “There’s definitely a lot of fear.”
Jim Minardi, a gun dealer in Lakewood, Colorado, says only a few people are actually hoarding. But they are buying up so much ammo that there isn’t much left on the shelves.
“The minority of our customers are stockpiling ammunition,” Minardi says. “The majority are standard shooters buying what they can.”
Wal-Mart is one of the largest ammo dealers in the United States. In an e-mail exchange, a Wal-Mart spokesman confirmed that ammo sales have been brisk.
“Some Wal-Mart stores have experienced an increase in demand for guns and ammo and for those locations, we are working closely with suppliers to replenish shelves,” says William C. Wertz, the discount chain’s divisional director for public affairs and government relations. “In some situations where demand is high, so that we can better serve all customers, we will place a limit on the amount of a product that can be purchased.”
“It’s no different with ammo than other products (toilet paper, batteries, etc.) that may be in short supply for one reason or another.”
Each year U.S. ammo manufacturers make about 8 billion rounds, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the firearms and ammunition industry. Current production data won’t be in until late May, but the foundation expects the numbers to be way up.
“In order to keep up with demand for ammunition, manufacturers are working at full capacity, 24-7,” says Ted Novin, an NSSF spokesman. “Currently demand for ammunition is outpacing supply.”
Novin says he believes the reason is clear.
“The increase in demand for firearms and ammunition is largely attributable to gun owner concerns regarding the current political climate,” says Novin, referring to the Obama administration and the Democrat-controlled Congress.
“Many of the lawmakers in power have a long history of supporting legislation that violates the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans,” Novin adds. “Gun owners recognize this and are reacting accordingly.”
Ammunition manufacturers have been scrambling to keep up with demand.
A message from Steve Hornady, president of Hornady Ammunition, on the company’s Web site reads:
“Here at Hornady Manufacturing we are breaking our own production records in an attempt to keep up with customer demand. We have added extra shifts, machinery and we are also in the process of expanding our manufacturing plant.”
Winchester Ammunition posted a similar statement:
“Winchester Ammunition, like other ammunition manufacturers, has seen the demand for our products increase significantly since last fall. To meet that increased demand, our operations are running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”
Andrew Arulanandam, communications director of the National Rifle Association, says the “unprecedented ammo shortages are widespread, and they affect small and large retailers.”
“We have heard from members across the country in cities and in small towns from California to Maine,” Arulanandam says. “There is a fear that Congress or the new administration will push for a firearm or an ammunition ban, or for a significant increase in excise taxes on firearms and ammunition. We hear this from hunters, target shooters and even from first-time gun owners who fear that there will be an effort to incrementally curtail and eventually dismantle this freedom.”
Back at The Firing Line’s gun range, pilot Ron Cardwell is working on his target shooting with his 9 mm semiautomatic pistol. He loves to shoot and hopes the ammo crisis ends soon.
“I have three or four boxes of 9 mm left at home and a couple of boxes of .45,” he says. “I’m just buying as much as I can whenever I can.”
Visiting Quantico, VA the Home of the Marine Corps
I just returened from a one day trip to Quantico, VA the Home of the Marine Corps. While my business led me on base I thought I would share with you a few of the thoughts I had while traversing the base.
I have visited Air Force Bases, Army Bases, and Naval Bases. Perhaps I was never on base at the right time but today I saw several exercises, vechiles, and training going on. I saw an exercise where Helicopters were hiting the Landing Zone and Marines jumping out. I saw some manuvers and training going on. Quantico is a fantastic base with beautiful scenery. Very clean and very curteous people. Having never seen a sight like that before I was fascinated by everything.
I wish had taken pictures to show you all the vechicles I saw. Everything from basic oickups to fighting vechices. TV doesn’t do them justice. They are huge and very intimidating. Well not the thing that looks like a duck boat. When I saw it I felt as if I needed to go find the ticket booth to go for a ride.
I was also able to see part of their shooting facilities, and let me just say this, WOW. The long range I saw must have been almost 2,000 yards. That is a long way to go an paste targets. I wonder if they ever open the range to the public? Sure would be fun just to say I had done it. I would like to meet the Marine that can group them tite with iron sites on that range.
There is also a Museum that I didn’t visit. I will have to hit that on my next visit to Quantico Marine Corps Base. If you ever get the opportunity to tour Quantico please do.