The coronavirus pandemic was listed, to be the overwhelming cause for the surge in US for gun sales; attributed to fears around social unrest and crime and, in some cases, people having more time for hunting.
But now ammunition had quickly been depleted into short supply. The short supply has continued well into 2021 and may continue into 2022 as well.
Manufacturers have stated that they are producing as much as they can but in many gun stores shelves are sparse and prices were rising.
A large percentage of those gun purchases have been for self-defense purposes. Therefore, manufacturers have ramped up the most production for .223 and 5.56 ammo for AR-15 owners and popular handgun calibers like 9mm, .45, and .380.
The FBI has also reported a record number of background checks for gun purchasers. In 2010, there were 14.4 million background checks for gun purchases; that number rose to 39.7 million in 2021, and is already up to 22.2 million through June 2021, the AP reported.
If you look at 8.4-million-gun buyers and they all want to buy one box with 50 rounds, that’s going to be 420 million rounds.
The actual number of guns sold is likely much higher, as only one background check is required for multiple weapons purchases.
The fact that people are still moving forward shows, that those “peaceful protests” that included all of the looting, fires and wanton destruction, while police were ordered to watch as are still in people’s minds.