Panic Buying, part 2

Earlier this year I wrote a post capturing my thoughts on panic buying.  Back in 2008 I told my friends that Obama was very unlikely to ban guns during his first term.  He wants to be re-elected, and supporting a gun ban would potentially alienate some voters.  In his second term I think it's more possible that a gun ban will make it through both houses of congress and get signed by our new president, but I think it's still unlikely.

That doesn't prevent panic buying though.  The day after the election my favorite online place to buy ammo sold out of all their 9mm target ammo.  They still have some fancy expensive 9mm ammo, but all the basic stuff is gone.  They had 40, 60 or 70 cases (1,000 rounds each) of some of the brands the day before.  That's just in one caliber, they sold it all less than 24 hours after Romney gave his concession speech.  I'm sure they moved a lot of ammo in other common calibers as well.  If history is any indication, we face months of short supplies and higher prices.  If you are a regular shooter and have enough ammo to get you through the next couple seasons, it's best to avoid becoming part of the problem.  No reason to pay inflated prices today when prices will be back down in a year or 18 months.

It's exceedingly unlikely that common types of ammunition will be banned.  In the most recent bill proposed by Feinstein there is no mention of banning ammo, only rifles, pistols and magazines.  (only!)  So not being able to buy ammo in the near future is pretty unlikely.

But good ol' Diane is talking loudly about proposing another Assault Weapons Ban (AWB), and it looks like the president isn't wasting any time before supporting the UN Arms Control Treaty.  Those two things so soon after the election may be cause for concern.  So maybe if you want to buy something cool it's a good time to start saving up.  Or maybe it's just talk and it won't go anywhere.  It's hard to say.  The one proposal that comes up a lot is the banning of magazines.  It was mostly recently attempted in July as an amendment to the Cybersecurity Bill.  So if you are going to stock up on anything, maybe magazines for the guns you have now or are on the verge of buying.  Right now AR-15 and Glock magazines are cheap, so you won't break the bank if you pick up a few.

It's going to be an interesting few years, I think.