.22 LR Ammo = discretionary purchase
Dealer: ".22 LR is $50 per brick"
You: "I don't want it that bad, no thanks."
=No Sale -- Nobody Ripped Off=
Dealer: ".22 LR is $50 per brick"
You: "I really want to shoot .22, here's $50."
=Sale Transacted -- Nobody Ripped Off=
Any time you are offered a product honestly, at a price that is clearly disclosed, and you make the CHOICE to pay that price for that product, you are NOT being ripped off.
Supply and demand. If there are people who will pay $50 a brick, and there are more of them than there are bricks of ammo to go around, then $50 is the fair market price.
And besides, there's plenty of foreign-made .22 LR around. So that, in itself, is not why the market price is higher than a few years ago.