Run on ammo apparently widens

Quick trip inside a sporting goods store was an eye-popper this afternoon.

This shelf from Dec. 8 is well stocked
compared to what I saw today.

Ammo aisle about three-quarters empty. Maybe more.

No 9mm. No .38 Special. No .22s of any kind. A few boxes of .45 ACP and .40 caliber remained. There were a couple boxes of some "specialty" .380.

.223 gone. I expected that. But other rifle categories were stripped too. Some 6mm. Some 7mm. Some .222. But it was mostly premium stuff.

I was most surprised by the shotgun selection. Most 12 and 20 gauge varieties gone. If you dug around you might find some trap loads for under ten bucks a box. But nothing was shelved where it should have been.

On shopper walked up to the aisle. Shook his head, looks at me and said, "It's like this everywhere." I guess he didn't find what he came for. He shook his head again and moved on.

About a dozen customers were at the gun counter. I didn't do an exhaustive study of what they were buying, but handguns seemed to be the focus. I just glanced, but I didn't see anything in tactical long guns in the racks.  My guess of what was left is high end shotguns and bolt action rifles.

I wonder if retailers are holding back some ammo for customers who are buying guns. Some stores were doing that back in 2009.