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Fear of new ban on some weapons spurs stockpiling
Associated press / March 30, 2009
CHEYENNE, Wyo. - Concern that the Obama administration could impose a new ban on some semiautomatic weapons is driving worried gun owners to stockpile ammunition and cartridge-reloading components so quickly that manufacturers can't meet demand.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/a...of_new_ban_on_some_weapons_spurs_stockpiling/
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Attorney General Eric Holder last month suggested that the administration favors reinstituting a US ban on the sale of assault weapons.
President Clinton first signed such a ban into law in 1994, generally blocking some military-style guns with magazines that hold many cartridges. President George W. Bush had allowed the ban to expire.
"We have heard from all across the country that there is a tremendous shortage of ammunition," said Lawrence Keane, senior vice president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation in Newtown, Conn.
"We've heard this from the manufacturers, that their customers are calling them trying to get supplies for inventory and that the manufacturers are going full-bore, pardon the pun," said Keane, whose foundation is a trade organization representing firearms and ammunition manufacturers as well as retail gun shops.
He said semiautomatic rifles are selling at a very brisk pace, and that many manufacturers of semiautomatic rifles and pistols are already so back-ordered that this year's entire production is already spoken for.
The current ammunition shortage followed the increase in gun sales, he said.
While the current shortage includes cartridges for popular semiautomatic rifles and pistols that were covered by the Clinton-era weapons ban, it also extends to varieties including common revolver cartridges and .22 rimfire cartridges used for hunting or target shooting.
In Wyoming, the run on bullets and reloading components reached such a frenzy that Cheyenne retailer Frontier Arms recently began rationing sales, said Becky Holtz, co-owner of the shop.
The FBI performed more than 4.2 million firearms background checks from November 2008 through this January, according to agency figures.
That's an increase of more than 31 percent above the 3.2 million checks the agency performed from November 2007 through January 2008.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
Associated press / March 30, 2009
CHEYENNE, Wyo. - Concern that the Obama administration could impose a new ban on some semiautomatic weapons is driving worried gun owners to stockpile ammunition and cartridge-reloading components so quickly that manufacturers can't meet demand.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/a...of_new_ban_on_some_weapons_spurs_stockpiling/
Discuss
COMMENTS (0)
Attorney General Eric Holder last month suggested that the administration favors reinstituting a US ban on the sale of assault weapons.
President Clinton first signed such a ban into law in 1994, generally blocking some military-style guns with magazines that hold many cartridges. President George W. Bush had allowed the ban to expire.
"We have heard from all across the country that there is a tremendous shortage of ammunition," said Lawrence Keane, senior vice president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation in Newtown, Conn.
"We've heard this from the manufacturers, that their customers are calling them trying to get supplies for inventory and that the manufacturers are going full-bore, pardon the pun," said Keane, whose foundation is a trade organization representing firearms and ammunition manufacturers as well as retail gun shops.
He said semiautomatic rifles are selling at a very brisk pace, and that many manufacturers of semiautomatic rifles and pistols are already so back-ordered that this year's entire production is already spoken for.
The current ammunition shortage followed the increase in gun sales, he said.
While the current shortage includes cartridges for popular semiautomatic rifles and pistols that were covered by the Clinton-era weapons ban, it also extends to varieties including common revolver cartridges and .22 rimfire cartridges used for hunting or target shooting.
In Wyoming, the run on bullets and reloading components reached such a frenzy that Cheyenne retailer Frontier Arms recently began rationing sales, said Becky Holtz, co-owner of the shop.
The FBI performed more than 4.2 million firearms background checks from November 2008 through this January, according to agency figures.
That's an increase of more than 31 percent above the 3.2 million checks the agency performed from November 2007 through January 2008.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.