Category: The Gun Thing

So with the NRA leaving the inhospitable climes of the North and moving to Texas, I have to say “Welcome” like all the others, but with a single caveat:  leave the people at our Texas State Rifle Association (TSRA) alone.

Over the years, the TSRA has been highly effective in killing all sorts of gun control nonsense (proposed by, duh, big-city Democrat politicos) and in general, keeping things running on the side of the righteous.  And frankly (unless someone from the TSRA tells me otherwise), we do not need the NRA throwing their weight around here like a clumsy bull elephant.

I have what I think is a common attitude towards the NRA among gun owners:  I support them in general terms, but I also think that on occasion they’ve behaved in a manner that sticks in my craw — and I’m not talking about Wayne LaPierre’s suits, either.  That enormous HQ building in Virginia is a case in point:

That is a lot of member funds spent, in one of the most expensive real estate areas in the world.  It made me think at the time that the NRA had its priorities wrong, and I haven’t much changed my opinion since.

So I say to the NRA:  y’all come on down, but behave yourselves.  It’s what I say to California transplants, and it pains me to have to say it to gun folks, but there it is.

Just got a note from Midway that they have IMI 9mm and 5.56 NATO in stock… a tad spendy, but not as bad as I’ve seen recently.

Get ’em while they’re hot.

Here’s a sign of the times, and it’s not pretty.  As any fule kno, Georgia Arms is one of the biggest reloaders / sellers of “bulk” ammo, whether in minimum purchase requirements or else their “Canned Lightning” (ammo can) option.  Well, here’s what I saw the last time I looked at their website, a couple days back:

That’s not three cases (their normal sales unit), but three boxes.  Aaaargh.

From Chris Metz, CEO of Vista Outdoors (Federal, CCI, Speer and Remington) about ammo demand and shortages:

“Demand has been really strong across the board — any type or caliber of handgun ammo:  small rifle, big rifle, hunting rifle, even rimfire — all of it really picked up.  And we’re not seeing an end.  We talk to a big database of users on a monthly basis, and one thing we’re noting is that what we call ‘heavy shooters’, those who shoot 10,000 rounds or more a year, a lot of them haven’t been purchasing.  They’ve seen the frenzied activity and are holding back in hopes it’ll subside.  Well, we all know what’s going to happen when they work through their stockpiles and, at some point, come back to the market.  So no, we don’t foresee any slowdown in the market in 2021.”

I’m not quite in the group of heavy shooters Metz is talking about — I used to be, not that much anymore — but I know my weekly shooting trips have dwindled to about once every three weeks, and I’m shooting 50 rounds where once I used to burn through 100-150 rounds per session.  I’m reduced to doing 30-minute dry-fire exercises each day — and how sucky is that.

Jason Hornady:

“You know which consumers are maddest?  The ones who normally buy two boxes of deer ammo a year.  They go into their local shops and can’t believe the shelves are bare.”

All the manufacturers are reporting not only worker fatigue but also machine stress, which is also problematic.  There are even shortages of DOT-required spec shipping boxes, FFS, let alone primers and cases.

So all those years of nagging people about National Ammo Day sure taste sour in my mouth right now, because I get no joy whatsoever in saying “I told you so.”