The ever-elusive "box of .22 LR ammo," rumored to have been in the area but seen by very few -- at retail price.

An early morning trip to a local version of a large retail establishment in an attempt to snag the ever-elusive .22 LR rimfire led to an interesting discussion with one of the employees. I've been able to score the princely sum of two fifty-round boxes of .22 LR since January - one in May and another last week, both from Academy Sporting Goods in Joplin, Mo. Needless to say, the store on this morning was rimfire-free but I engaged the frazzled clerk, an employee of the company for some twenty years or more. He'd never seen it like this. He said that ammo supplies had been moderating as the industry "catches up with the DHS order." I really ignored that, as it's BS. He then said that a few guys purchased bulk packs of 9mm, saying it wasn't what they were after but they'd take it. He shook his head. "I wouldn't have sold it to them - I know they're reselling it. But store policy is "first come, first served," so I had to sell it." I was moved to write about ass-hat profiteers but I decided to check around on this "DHS" order. Understand that the current Department of Homeland Security now encompasses agencies which had previously ordered their own ammo. Total up their usage and you find that DHS hasn't ordered any more than the government used to buy. An LE rep for an ammo company said, "I think I would have to throw the BS flag on that one. Yes, DHS has ordered large quantities of ammo, just like they always have. When you look at all the agencies that fall under DHS you are talking millions of rounds just for their normal training, qualifications, and issue of duty ammo." He went on to note that ". . . all the new CCW permits account for a lot of ammo being purchased also." People aren't buying guns to shoot a few times and throw into the sock drawer. They want to shoot those guns. He concluded that there's "lots of fear, greed, and hysteria still floating around out there." Another large ammo provider noted that the DHS orders are nothing out of the ordinary. He also believed that new gun owners account for lots of the demand with hoarders causing some problems. Black Hills Ammunition doesn't have any DHS business. Jeff Hoffman noted, "The government buys lots of ammunition. They employ lots of people with guns." He also explained government purchasing. Government purchasing is done via IDIQ - "Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity." According to the GSA website (gsa.gov), "Indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contracts provide for an indefinite quantity of services for a fixed time. They are used when GSA can't determine, above a specified minimum, the precise quantities of supplies or services that the government will require during the contract period." The government reserves the right under such contracts to buy a quantity of ammunition - say 50 million rounds. They have the right to purchase that amount, say sometime over a three year period but they're under no obligation to buy that much. You have to be able to supply that amount over that time period. The government lets three to five year contracts; the process is far too tedious and time-consuming to do each year. Each correspondent noted that fear was involved. If you were in the D.C. elite and you see that every time you make a pronouncement on essential civil rights like gun ownership that there is a surge in the purchase of guns and ammo, wouldn't you start re-thinking your approach? This run on ammo is nothing like the other ammo booms in 1989, 1993 and 2008. This thing, like our economy, is recovering very slowly - nearly imperceptibly. The mass purchasing of .22 Long Rifle ammo is the best evidence that this is different from any other "run on the market." They're buying it up in large volume, a cartridge not favored for military battle or law enforcement use. Its uses are everything from harvesting small game for food to home defense. It's not what revolutionary extremists would favor, but the regular folk for whom possession of the cartridge is comforting. Consider this - one company noted a 44% increase in production . . . at the same time they saw a 200% increase in demand. The government may be driving demand, but it's not driving it through ammo purchases but through an inability to manage public perceptions. -- Rich Grassi