I'm really tired of this crap. At the store I constantly get calls for 9mm ammunition (sometimes other calibers, not as often.) I tell them no, it's simply not available as manufacturing can't keep up with supply. Often they ask, "Can you order me a case?" No, genius, I can't order YOU a case if I can't order ME a case.

The frustrating part of this whole situation is it was predictable, although the magnitude was unexpected. Para was not the only one warning us to "buy it cheap, and stack it deep." Every 4 years, there is a run on guns and ammo. I've seen it happen since the Clinton election. It's not a big strain for most people to buy a box of ammo every payday when it's 8 dollars a box. Cut back on beer and cigarettes if you have to. It was especially inexpensive the last year to two, I was able to buy several cases at 150 bucks, after rebates were calculate in. There were many deals last year on defensive ammo as well.

Even worse are the first time gun buyers. I recently had a friend of a customer who was along for the ride pick up a revolver and point it as his friend's head while laughing. This wasn't a kid, this guy was in his sixties. I booted his ass out. Apparently this town is now full of Yankees from the northeast discovering guns before they discover gun safety.

Oh, well, just venting. It will get better eventually.

The AHQ (AssHole Quotient) is high enough during "normal" times. I cringe to think what it must be like, working in a gun shop, in the current environment.

I've got a friend who runs the firearm portion of a local store. He has the same comments. Whens the next shipment coming? Can you set a case/box aside for me? Will there be any 9mm if I come as soon as the store opens? What day do you get shipments? etc....

Signs help. Of course no one reads them, but all YOU have to do is point. It is not great CSR but it gets the job done.

Same thing with toilet paper. Only so much can ship on a trailer, if there is more demand than that, it’s gone. Way too many mouth breathers out there who think things magically show up on the shelf.

I feel this one. I'm pretty well stocked on the calibers I own, but I just picked up my first rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor. Good luck finding ammo for that right now. I'm pretty sure I've been the customer you're talking about at a few places. I ask if they have any, and they just give me the look.

It has made me reconsider some of my caliber choices however. I'm looking at what seems to be staying available right now, and I'll pick up a couple of rifles in those calibers once things calm back down.

quote:

Originally posted by Fredward:
Even worse are the first time gun buyers. I recently had a friend of a customer who was along for the ride pick up a revolver and point it as his friend's head while laughing. This wasn't a kid, this guy was in his sixties. I booted his ass out.

There lies the conundrum. I'm pro-2A, but at the same time, there are a lot of ppl (like the above) who shouldn't be allowed to own guns.

When I worked at the dicks who are Dicks, I was amazed at the number of people who asked me for ammo, but could not tell me what type or caliber their gun was!

I was in my LGS a month or so ago and this middle-aged woman strolls in and starts peppering the poor counter guy with questions while he's trying to do my paperwork for a gun I'd sold.

She CLEARLY had never touched a gun in her entire life and I cringed thinking a person like this was going to end up with one and not know a thing about it and potentially kill herself out of sheer ignorance.

Shit that is phone calls and sweeping in store. You should see the lanes at the gun range sometimes. I've straight up, packed up, went to the owners and said WTF! A family of 5 on a single lane and kids are running around. I don't want to be a safety nancy but WTF, you can't be too safe on the firing range. Some of the those newbs end up on the lane and there are times where I've questioned ever returning to a public range. The last few times I've made a point to bring the Vepr12 and my SBR even though I don't intend to shoot either. The pistol range is also for shotties so it's amazing to slightly hear and see dumb shit going on then things quickly change when you are firing a semi-auto shotgun blowing the target to holy hell. They wig out at the noise because they have shit ear pro. Then same thing on the rifle range, seeing dumb shit then pulling out the SBR so they get an earful of pain. Some days I've said something then just straight up left. They have told me if they got real strict they wouldn't make any money. Well fuck me, I don't want to die and I don't have a bunch of ranges to choose from. It's slim pickens.

In 2008 I started reloading and since then I have made it a policy to reload every caliber I shoot.

Since Sandy Hook I have also made it a habit to stockpile components. As a result I am pretty well set for the rest of my expected lifespan with the exception of Shotgun components. There I am a bit short on Primers and shot. Got about 1/2 years supply on those items. While I haven't always come out very far ahead on cost it is comforting to know if I need a box of ammo all I have to do is go down the basement and make it.

As for the current shortage, it simply provides me with a confirmation that there are times when being a hoarder is not a bad thing. The thing is that you have to do your hoarding when the materials are available and inexpensive. This is NOT a good time to do any hoarding.

They won't shoot themselves, it's always someone else. I simply will not sell a gun to someone who deliberately points one at another person in the store, period.

quote:

Originally posted by Fredward:
They won't shoot themselves, it's always someone else. I simply will not sell a gun to someone who deliberately points one at another person in the store, period.

Absolutely. I love gun people... I love talking to gun people.. I love dealing with gun people... I don’t even mind people new to the sport that have questions or need help because they just don’t know but are interested in learning

I HATE idiots. I don’t know how many people I’ve had to tell I don’t sell tshirts so paperwork, rules, etc are important... filling out the 4473 correctly is required... I’ve had quite a few get delayed and act like it’s the end of the world they have to wait 3 days yet they are 40-50-60 years old buying their first gun... ITS 3 DAYS!

quote:

I recently had a friend of a customer who was along for the ride pick up a revolver and point it as his friend's head while laughing.

well..... you could be sitting there... waiting for the phone to ring or front door to open.....

The guntry club near me has increased the number of range officers lately, just for this reason. They are also very strict...two people max to a lane, you can have three on a lane but one of you sits outside while the other two shoot.

quote:

Originally posted by Prefontaine:
Shit that is phone calls and sweeping in store. You should see the lanes at the gun range sometimes. I've straight up, packed up, went to the owners and said WTF! A family of 5 on a single lane and kids are running around. I don't want to be a safety nancy but WTF, you can't be too safe on the firing range. Some of the those newbs end up on the lane and there are times where I've questioned ever returning to a public range. The last few times I've made a point to bring the Vepr12 and my SBR even though I don't intend to shoot either. The pistol range is also for shotties so it's amazing to slightly hear and see dumb shit going on then things quickly change when you are firing a semi-auto shotgun blowing the target to holy hell. They wig out at the noise because they have shit ear pro. Then same thing on the rifle range, seeing dumb shit then pulling out the SBR so they get an earful of pain. Some days I've said something then just straight up left. They have told me if they got real strict they wouldn't make any money. Well fuck me, I don't want to die and I don't have a bunch of ranges to choose from. It's slim pickens.

This is something I give a lot of thought to, and even though I strongly stress safety with my students and fully appreciate the concerns about those who aren’t safe, some opinions to possibly consider:

The first is that the average person who is totally ignorant about guns other than what they’ve seen on the teevee or heard some antigun NPR pundit pontificate about is no more likely to be an actual idiot than the average person who is in semicontrol of a multi-ton possible death missile that you’re about to encounter at a closing speed of 120 mph. The guy who sort-of secured that heavy load on the truck you’re following is hardly likely to be a Mensa member either (though not impossible). And yet how often are we exposed to those deadly dangers in our daily lives? Just as two wrongs don’t make a right, two hazards don’t make a safe, but we should keep that set of facts in mind when thinking about other hazards like unsafe gun handlers.

So, if they’re not really idiots, but nevertheless do idiotic, unsafe things, why is that? The obvious answer is that it’s ignorance: they simply don’t know any better. And just as the reason many young people these days don’t know how to change a car tire is that they were never taught how, they were never taught about gun safety. The much-maligned NRA that many of us here proudly refuse to support has had gun safety programs aimed (NPI) at children and others for years, but in general they have not reached very many people (largely due to the objections of the antigun crowd). So, what other sources of gun safety information are most people exposed to? …
Yeah, I don’t hear anything either.

Oh, wait, yes, I do. What about current experienced gun owners, all of whom always handle their guns perfectly safely?

Yes, that’s sarcasm because we all know that just as owning a gun doesn’t automatically make someone armed any more than owning a guitar makes someone a musician, owning a gun doesn’t automatically make someone a safe gun owner.

The unfortunate fact is that the situation will not improve until the government mandates training and qualifications for gun ownership, and even then some gun owners and prospective gun owners will still be unsafe. I didn’t have negligent homicides to investigate in the Army because the perpetrators had been given no training about handling their weapons properly.

And the last thing we should keep in mind is that just as most of us avoid being killed by texting 16-year-olds on the highway, very few people are killed or injured by people handling guns unsafely.

Statistically there are at least 2000 gun owners in my small town*, and although a higher than usual percentage have probably had hunter safety training, that still leaves a lot who learned how to handle their guns from a movie or Bugs Bunny cartoon. Despite that, however, in the 20+ years I’ve been employed by a law enforcement agency here, there has not been a death or serious injury resulting from unsafe gun handling reported in our jurisdiction. None of that means we shouldn’t object to unsafe acts in our presence or shouldn’t do what we can to educate the people we can, but as long as we are permitted to own firearms without undue governmental interference with our rights, there will sometimes be bad consequences, just as there are sometimes bad consequences of allowing most of us to operate motor vehicles on the public roadways.

* And probably more because it’s a rural county with a much higher percentage of hunters and recreational shooters than in the country at large.

Mandate training? Sounds like an "infringement" to me. Why not just have gun safety training in the schools, rather than a requirement for gun ownership? And no, it's not ignorance, it's stupidity. I'm not talking about unintentional muzzle sweeps and such, I'm talking about deliberate, moronic acts. But then, we do have a large drug problem in our area.

quote:

I'm really tired of this crap. At the store I constantly get calls for 9mm ammunition

You should try it on the supplier end. Getting called everyday, having the EXACT same conversation with the entire country, and being accused of everything from selling to the Sandinistas to bowing down to the U.N. overlords gets old after a few months. Some of these FFL holders seem like they crawled out of Art Bell's ass crack.

quote:

Originally posted by Rev. A. J. Forsyth:
and being accused of everything from selling to the Sandinistas to bowing down to the U.N. overlords gets old after a few months. Some of these FFL holders seem like they crawled out of Art Bell's ass crack.

Be sure to tell them about how hard your job has become ever since Obama made FEMA shut down all the lead smelters.