It's certainly possible that "HUGE numbers" are involved, but in my area it's not requiring huge numbers too keep the retailer shelves empty. It's only taking a handful of folks.As far as I can tell, Wal-Mart is still getting reasonable amounts of ammunition--and that's what's being reported by other posters about their local Wal-Marts. The problem is less what they are (or aren't getting) and more that because the shelves have been cleaned by increased demand, it's now much easier for a relatively small number of buyers to KEEP them empty.
I'm not going to quote any more of your post because it seems you're either not understanding my point or you're intentionally avoiding it.
In other words, it definitely took more than a handful of people to clean the shelves at the local Wal-Mart, but it's only taking a handful of them to keep the shelves empty now.
And that means that until those folks stop keeping the shelves clean, they will stay clean, even if you and I and a bunch of our friends stop buying ammunition for a month--which is what this thread is about.
Considering that most of my post invalidates your arguments and points out the true cause of what is presently occurring, I'd be surprised if you did repeat my points of argument.
As to your point, I think I understood it just fine. I don't think it's factual. That's all.
I'll repeat my point again since you seem to have missed it also. A small number of people are NOT keeping Walmart shelves out of stock. In December thousands, if not millions, of people ordered ammunition from various vendors around the Internet and the United States. In amounts far vaster than has been seen before. Perhaps this also coincided with an increased govt purchase of ammunition as well. This increase in demand has been so large that it has led to middle men vendors of ammunition refusing any more backorders because the already existing demand is occupying all current production to fill it. Thus you see vendors saying "no longer accepting back orders".
Ammo companies are playing "catch up" right now to get all the ammo that was ordered in December supplied to the people who bought it. This process, according to the estimated times of deliveries supplied by middle men sellers at various firearms accessory dealers (pick your favorite one) may be months, or the latter part of this year, according to information supplied on their various websites, before they receive the ammo they have ordered to be shipped to their customers. This is what their supplier (Federal, Remington, CCI..whoever) is telling them and they are putting this on their website.
So there are millions of people buying ammunition right now through the back order process. The ammunition that they have already paid for is currently being produced and shipped to them. This sudden massive demand is what is causing a shortage.
People buying ammunition at Walmart are not the problem. They are not "maintaining a shortage". If everyone stopped buying ammunition at Walmart today, there would be ammunition on the shelves at Walmart. This would not mean that all demand and supply had been met. This demand will not be met until all back orders are filled. The people buying ammo at Walmart are the people who did not order thru the online internet ammunition sites. Their demand has only marginally--minimally--been satisfied by the meager supply of ammunition dribbling into Walmart from ammunition makers. There are millions of Americans each buying 100's if not 1000's of rounds of ammunition now. It's a log jam. Same is if hurricane preppers rushed to a store all at once before a hurricane and bought batteries, milk, and generators. If there are 100 generators, then the 101st customer does not get one. Let's say the store uses its retail reputation and secures 5 additional generators for this store by twisting the arms of their generator suppliers for an emergency shipment even if the generator company does not have a surplus stock and can only produce a few per day. Can you then say that the 101st person is now creating the shortage by buying one of those 5 generators? No. The hurricane inspired demand is creating the shortage. The perception of need for a generator in the face of a hurricane is the causative agent.
(I chose generators as an example because in the aftermath of a hurricane they may also represent a dubious "need". Do people NEED generators after a hurricane? Debatable...in much the same way that "do people NEED ammo?" is debatable. Is the house that contained the generator even going to be left standing? Was buying one "wasted"? [Comparable to buying ammo you hoard but never shoot.]How effective is a generator in a place with no gasoline or available oil? How long would it last at persevering food even in the best of situation? Applied to firearms, how often does someone NEED a gun? How much ammo is "enough"?)
And because I no longer trust people to make the obvious leap and substitute ammunition for generators, I'll spell this out too. If Walmart had 500 boxes of ammunition at their local store, and suddenly everyone in the United States (unlike hurricane demand, which is local in scope) demands ammo and locals buys those 500 boxes, can you now blame people who come in after to purchase the meager 5 boxes that come in? People who missed the boat when the 500 were bought up in the initial rush? I say, "No."
Why you are propagating this premise of "a few are the problem" is another point I'm curious about. If your goal is to try and convince people that no shortage exists...that's wrong. It exists until backorders are filled. Or you convince people to cancel their backorders. If your goal is just to convince people not to buy at Walmart so that YOU will be able to find ammo the next time you go in, then good luck with that. Cause I do not believe that is going to happen until the perceived need is met, either thru reduced demand or by ammo companies increasing production. If you want to stop the shortage, then focus on convincing people to cancel their backorders. Blaming people who didn't get there first to buy their "generator" is divisive, and I feel factually incorrect to the situation at hand.
We are all to blame, and none of us are to blame, for the current situation. This is the stampede. You either run with the herd, or you get crushed by its passage. Or you find an island, or make one for yourself--but that's less dramatic as imagery.
So good luck, cause in my opinion we are still looking at months if not sometime next year before we see those nice packed Walmart shelves again.
. Instead of wasting your time in line waiting for something that will eventually come available, donate the amount you could have earned in wages to the NRA, and then spend the remainder of that downtime hassling your reps. That's how we deal with the problem, instead of avoiding it.
