Financial Interest And Citizens

Cheaper Than Dirt .223 Rifle, Empty 12/24/12

10 Round .223 AR-15 Mag, Bullet Trap Inc, 12/27/12 Cost: $75.

Academy Sports .223 Rifle, Empty 12/27/12

Cheaper Than Dirt 9mm Handgun, Empty 12/24/12

In the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre, the national political climate has taken an apparent shift from toleration of an armed citizen to open mockery of a free citizen being armed. It has apparently troubled more then a few, as stores which I have never seen an empty ammo shelf have become the norm. 

Within hours, the national outcry for the reinstatement of the 1994 Abridgement of the Second Amendment Assault Rifle Ban swept the internet and media outlets. The result? A run on the existing supply of such rifles, and a rapid increase in the private holdings of such rifles. To wit, the result of intoning increased control of fire arms is to increase the number of fire arms in private hands, and to drive the existing supplies of ammunition off the shelves and into the closets of private citizens. 

Anecdotal evidence from a local gun show on 12/22 was compelling. The doors opened at 9am, we arrived and stood in line from 8:45am to 9:15am to even enter the show floor. After 11:30am, I was no longer able to locate a dealer of ammunition selling .223 Rifle at any price. 

Equally of note, the AR-15 style rifle has become exceptionally difficult to locate and purchase. At the show we visited, most vendors began the day charging double the previous going rate for rifles, with many rapidly increasing prices until selling out within only a handful of hours. 

The standard magazine for these rifles holds 30 rounds, and were priced with a 800% increase from the price a month previous. Supply and demand functioned efficiently, these prices reflect a selling of magazines in 3 days equivalent to 42 months of sales.The picture above of the magazine priced at $75 is representative of a magazine with 1/3 the capability for 8 times the price of the standard magazine in the beginning of November. In essence a cost growth of 2400% as a result of a few words spoken in public. The short run inelasticity (Inflexible, difficult to increase supply in the short run) of the quantity supply is seen by rapid increases in prices as the retails cope with very elastic (increasing quickly in the short run) demand.

An AR-15 rifle is known to the industry as a 'Sporting Rifle' and has a more tactical look and feel then does a traditional hunting rifle. To those who do not understand the tools they seek to condemn, these are frequently referred to as 'Assault Rifles'. The fear and hysteria surrounding these implements is such that before anything approaching clarity was available regarding the Sandy Hook story, officials were decrying the presence of an AR-15 style rifle without regard for the facts regarding it's use, or even the legality of its presence on the school grounds. 

 Really, it is almost as if Diane Feinstein and her compatriots have a large financial interest in increasing the sales of all arms makers and ammunition manufacturers. Think about it, millions of extra rounds of ammunition purchased in the past year for non-combat departments of the Federal Government were done with some cause.