Ammo's Still Short, Mostly

Reports from the field tell us that .45ACP is once again on shelves.

But not .223 (AR-15/M-16/M-4 fodder). I haven't checked .357, or 9mm lately....

Even the WaPo noticed.

...It was already a political truism that Democrats prompt sales of both guns and ammo. The U.S. government taxes both to support wildlife conservation, and those receipts jumped after Bill Clinton was elected in 1992 and after Democrats retook Congress in 2006.

But the spike under Obama seems to be on a different scale: The receipts are on pace to set a record in 2009, according to Treasury Department data, with tax revenue due from guns up 42 percent and revenue due from ammunition at 49 percent. Recently, analysts have said earnings reports from gunmakers seem to show demand for weapons slackening.
The increase in gun buying during the past year explains a large part of the increase in ammunition sales to the private market, experts on the industry say -- but probably not all of it.
They say that bullets were bought not just by new gun owners but also by those who already owned weapons. And they say bullet sales might have increased even faster if supply had kept up with demand.

The "analyses":

The high sales have alarmed some anti-gun groups. Josh Sugarmann of the Violence Policy Center said he worries about a revival of the anti-government militia movement of the Clinton era.

"This is a pattern that is repeating itself, and it is a pattern that has tremendous risk attached to it," Sugarmann said.

But gun-rights groups say the buyers are law-abiding, and responding to legitimate concerns.
"I think it's Katrina. I think it's terrorism. I think it's crime. And I also think that it's people worrying about [whether] they'll be attacked by politicians," said Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association. "They're suspicious, and justifiably so."

Given that .223 is also deer-hunting ammo, what about the possibility of an ObamaDepression causing folks to hunt for their food?

HT: Arms/Law