Something is going on with ammunition in America that defies the Law of Supply and Demand. This article, from CBS4 in Pompano Beach, FL has a very ominous element. Itstates

“Ammunition sellers and manufacturers say there’s been a run on bullets and they can’t keep their shelves stocked.”

The article quotes Jeff Dillard who runs the National Armory in Pompano as saying

“We paid five times the price we would normally pay,” he said, adding that “it isn’t just ammunition running low, he can’t even get the parts to make bullets.”

The shortage of ammunition has been going on for many months. The Law of Supply and demand explains why the cost for ammunition has gone up, but it defies the normal progression of supply and demand that manufacturers are not able to increase their ammunition production in order to rake in the cash from the public’s insatiable demand. Not only is supply not going up, but quoting the report,

“Ammunition manufacturer Andy Delatorre says can hardly keep up with ammunition orders, but the shortage on parts has hurt his business so much he had to lay off four people last month. We have had to shut down 50 percent of manufacturing process. People are out on street without jobs right now. We just can’t find enough raw material,” he said.

Again, the Law of Supply and Demand should kick in with parts and raw material production increasing to rake in the cash from the ammunition manufacturers’ insatiable demand for supplies.

Why is this not happening? What is going on that is breaking the cycle of supply increasing to meet demand? Not only is this not occurring, but if manufactures like Andy Delatorre are actually laying people off and having to cut production in the face of overwhelming demand, then we have a reduction in production, despite the overwhelming demand. This flies in the face of Supply and Demand and a free market economy. Why? I don’t hear the question getting asked, and it certainly wasn’t asked in the article. Are there activities going on below the surface that we don’t see which are blowing up one of the fundamental laws of economics?

There are many stories documenting that the Department of Homeland Security is buying up massive amounts of ammunition. Are they also buying up raw materials? Is some other federal department hampering the ramp up and flow of raw materials to ammunition manufacturers? It may not have anything to do with the federal government, or new executive measures designed to curb firearm usage, but the media should be asking these questions. Sadly, I’ve not seen any stories looking into it.