Ammunition Shortage Explained

I believe the following exchange speaks for itself:

From: John Oniga <johnoniga@gmail.com>
Date: Thursday, July 2, 2020 at 3:50 PM
To: Eric Poole <Eric.Poole@OutdoorSG.com>
Subject: Ammo Shortage

Eric

Why no reporting on the ammo shortage we are now facing?

There is no 9mm or 5.56 NATO or 00 12 gauge ammunition here in NE Ohio.

Talking to other folks, it is the same in Chicago. Tennessee and Kentucky.

What happened? Is there cause for worry as this might be a form of liberal gun control? 

Please respond.

Thanks,

John Oniga

On Thu, Jul 2, 2020 at 5:07 PM Eric Poole <Eric.Poole@outdoorsg.com> wrote 

Good Afternoon Mr. Oniga,

Thank you for your email, and I want to assure you that we all share your concern. We are actually working on some reports for www.gunsandammo.com developed by our contributors, but one challenge we’ve encountered that I didn’t expect was that news would change faster than we can get accurate information posted. Things are changing fast and we learn something new every day. For example, I just got off the phone with Remington and learned that they focused on producing 9mm and 5.56 NATO rather than other cartridges for the time being. The demand is exceeding their ability to produce enough of the basic loads that they are not putting resources to other cartridges until supply-demand start to equalize again. From my chair, I believe that the ammo shortage is a genuine issue in delivering enough product from the manufacturers to distributors to retailers. I don’t think that there is a conspiracy behind the scenes since all of these ammo companies are running full staff with machines running around the clock. If anything is becoming a challenge, it’s the source of materials to create the lead, copper, brass, primers, powders and steel. So much of it is imported, and with the ongoing effects of COVID-19 as well as trade disputes between the U.S. and foreign nations that supply us, I suspect that we will eventually see manufacturers struggling to get the basic materials needed to produce ammunition. In fact, if they have to compete with one another, prices will go up until new supply solutions can be created.

Thank you for your support of Guns & Ammo.

Best,

Eric

Eric R. Poole, Editor

Guns & Ammo