Shortages; I keep hearing about shortages. I also hear about frenzy buying and stockpiling. The items under discussion are not bread, milk, soup, potatoes, or meat. Instead, the items are ammunition and primers, especially handgun ammo: .380, .38 Special, 9mm, .40 S&W, .45 ACP. Rifle ammo for .223 and .308 is also said to be in short or diminished supply. Centerfire primers have also been difficult to purchase.

In July, I purchased a large supply of rifle bullets and gunpowder. Two weeks later, I went to the same shop and requested primers. After a bit of hemming and hawing on the part of the salesperson, I said, "Remember, I was here two weeks ago and purchased over $200 worth of reloading supplies." Bingo! No problem; I was able to purchase 1,000 each of small and large rifle primers.

In late July, CNN, Lou Dobbs Tonight show reporter Brooke Baldwin did a brief piece called "Bullet Buying Frenzy." Baldwin spoke with several industry sources who related that a run on ammo purchases started right after Barack Obama was elected president, saying gun owners were worried about Second Amendment issues because of Obama's history on firearms when he was an Illinois senator. Baldwin reported that the ammunition industry said they are about six to nine months behind in production. Baldwin ended by saying that the industry expects to "catch up" soon, and said Remington is trying to hire workers to add another shift to produce more ammo.

Smith & Wesson CEO Michael Golden in late July visited CNBC's "Fast Money," and was asked about the big surge in gun sales. Golden answered that, yes, there was a big rise in gun sales after Obama's election but pointed out that prior to the election gun sales were very strong. Finally, Steve Senetti, president of Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers Institute, spoke to about 300 U.N. delegates to a worldwide firearms work group as they prepare to discuss sporting firearms. Senetti discussed the heritage of hunting and sport shooting, discussed briefly the economic impact of shooting and hunting, and pointed out the importance of hunting on the economies of many poor nations. Nambia, for instance, is a small African nation that obtains over $100 million from visiting hunters, which represents about 14 percent of the country's tourism dollars, making hunting there very important indeed.

Senetti told delegates that United States citizens own about 300 million legal firearms. Face it, that many firearms requires a large amount of ammunition, and occasional shortages can occur naturally.

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