Can’t Find Any Ammo? Prices Sky High? It’s Happened Before.

Baseball legend Yogi Berra reportedly once proclaimed, “It’s like déjà vu all over again,” and while a bit of a redundancy, many shooters may be feeling such a sensation when heading to buy ammunition. The great ammunition shortage of 2021, along with high prices if you do find any, won’t likely end anytime soon–and it is unlikely to be contained to a single year.

In fact, it was just a few years ago during the Obama administration that ammunition of all calibers was in great demand, which in turn drove up prices to record levels. The shortage, which even impacted law enforcement, began just after Obama was elected. According to one gun shop owner, it even began the day after the 2008 election when “people started stocking up, buying half a lifetime to a lifetime supply of ammo all at one time.”

No Easy Fix
Whereas the novel coronavirus kicked off a buying spree that saw record firearms sales last year, and into the first four months of 2021, which in turn created nearly unprecedented demand for ammunition – in 2009, the increased sales of firearms was also a factor, but so too were the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.