Gun dealers report ammo shortages

Gun shops are experiencing ammunition shortages amid a surge in consumers fretting possible federal gun control legislation.

Ammunition prices have more than doubled in the past year at some shops, and retailers are putting limits on the amount a customer can buy, USA Today reports.

“We absolutely are in uncharted territory,” Larry Hyatt of the Hyatt Gun Shop in Charlotte, N.C., told USA Today. “Our store is 53 years old, and we have never seen anything like this. We have had some spot shortages and busy gun times in the past. This is a level [of demand] never before seen.

“The political turmoil is intensifying it,” he added. “People feel like this administration is very anti-gun, and they are going for the legal gun owner… Whether true or not, this information is out there, and people are getting it while they can.”

Mr. Hyatt is limiting his sale of .22-caliber cartridges to one box.

Retailers say the run on guns is due to people stockpiling because they believe the economy is going to collapse or that certain types of weapons will be banned. They also fear rising taxes on ammunition, USA Today reports.

Gun sales have risen exponentially since President Obama was re-elected. The numbers have risen even higher since the intensifying gun control debate following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in December.

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