[LONG TEXT.] Unbelievable day today.
Interesting news following the November election, to present:
In a 48hr period following the outcome on Nov 4,
one particular gun store in Portland claimed to have sold TWO PALLETS of .223 ammunition.
I get an e-mail a few weeks after that from a collector in TX saying that AR-15 receivers are going to top $1500 ea and he has stocked up on three.
The Dec. 19-21 Expo show was crowded but the snow seemed to dampen the turnout; I had thought that this was gonna be the "Last Chance Before Obama" rush. Prices had gone up but were not frenetic. I ask one of the larger local ammunition dealers about the .223 and he said *they* had moved *five* pallets since the election.
What I hear was selling hot was reloading machinery. These are the last ditch, go-underground machines that would be the most difficult to track and register, and also allow people to make their own 'surprise' loads and bullets even when sales might be banned or overly taxed. Connecticut has already banned .50cal armor piercing ammo. I bet there are people in CT who can make THEIR OWN.
About two weeks ago, news pops out about HR-45:
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h45/showhttp://www.saysuncle.com/archives/2009/01/13/hr-45/http://www.snowflakesinhell.com/2009/01/13/the-cards-are-being-dealt/http://dustinsgunblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/hr-45-national-firearms-licensing.html"Dustin" above, wonders if the US Constitution's FIFTH amendment - the right to remain silent - can be used to not have to declare what you have.
About one week ago, two things:
a. I drop off my wife at a fabric store (Cosplay!) and go up the road to a handgun store. They seem low on inventory. One woman, blonde, talking up at the counter, has decided to buy her first gun, tells the counter folks she has no clue what to look for or how they work. But "it's time," I overhear from a distance. Hope she selected something in a caliber that begins with the number "4" ...
b. I see a report that ATF is running SO low on Form 4473 (firearms transaction record, over-the counter) that they are letting dealers PHOTOCOPY them.
Ummm, the government runs OUT of paperwork !?!
Today, I went to the Expo show this weekend:
a. ... with friends of a friend - a married couple who never owned guns but *now* feel a more immediate need to pick something up soon. One of them is from Eastern Europe, and had lived through REAL communism - "We know what is coming next!" They buy a .40cal semiautomatic pistol. New HK pistols and SIGs are in the $850 - $950 range. I never thought I would see a thousand dollar handgun** but looks like we're getting there soon.
( ** Not counting historical collectibles, like 'This is President Dwight Eisenhower's personal Colt .45 auto from his time in the Service.")
b. The show is really crowded and frenetic. I see two Obama "Not My President!" t-shirts walking around. Lots of ammo is being sold in large sealed tin cans - one seller is explaining that the cans can be buried underground or stored underwater for years. It's Soviet manufacture. Other hawkers are selling various seal-it/bury-it plastic containers.
c. Some AR-15 receivers are for sale at around TWO THOUSAND dollars...
d. Pistol ammo prices are nearly DOUBLE what it was in December. I snap up two boxes of .40cal pre-fragmented hollow point. (That's my own choice for defense ammo, I usually keep two boxes around, but I shoot them every few years so I can buy fresh.) Our friends want to do the same - but no they said those were the LAST two boxes. NOW I'm beginning to wonder: wait - who ever heard of running OUT of ammunition at a GUN SHOW, fer kreiss-sakes?!?
e. We bump into friends from the next town over from us (out in Columbia county.) They are each looking to buy and have brought another relative who is buying his first gun. That's three more sales right there.
f. After the show, we take our friends to
GI Joe's to pick up cleaning supplies and other accessories. The store is *out* of shooting glasses. I look on the shelves and all pistol ammo between .32 auto (woefully underpowered pea-shooter) and .454 Casull (total hand-cannon, also what Hellsing shoots) is GONE. Bare shelves. "When do you *ever* see bare shelves in a store except under socialism!" I joked with our Eastern-bloc escapees. They agree. At the counter one customer is explaining how certain rifle cartridges can be modified to accept pistol primers. The customer is buying a reloading press and accessories, and will have to wait for the order to arrive. He mentions he has 4,000 primers socked away in sealed containers. The guy behind the counter says he himself has stored away around 10,000. (!)
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So, yikes: *WHAT* is going *ON* folks!?!
