A check on inventories at a couple of firearms sellers

Hadn't been in a gun store for a while, so I popped into one of favorite indy shops today in Gwinnett County (to the north and east of Atlanta).

Last time I was in, the long gun racks were 60 percent empty. Today they were full. Lots of new stuff like ARs and tactical shotguns, and priced pretty much in line with what stuff was selling for last November (pre-Sandy Hook).

I did note the section that used display used long guns was now mostly filled with new. My assumption is that folks aren't selling or trading what they have when they buy new.

There were a few Mosins on the racks. 91/30s priced around $170, M44s at $189 and up. This time last year you'd see Russian Mosins usually selling in the $110 to $140 range.

Ammo shelves were mostly full. Though a sign noted there was a 100 round limit on .22 Long Rifle rounds. Yes, there were boxes of .22 ammo on the shelf.

I also went by a big box sporting goods store. It too was better stocked in terms of guns and ammo than my last visit to the firearms area in early summer. Most the handgun ammo is no longer stocked up front at customer service, it's back on the ammo aisle. The exception is 9mm and .22 LR which is still held up front. Several types of 9mm were on hand, but I didn't see any .22 as I exited the store.

Back in the firearms area, there were numerous boxes of .223 rifle ammo from various makers. Various .45, .380 and other pistol rounds mostly filled their respective slots, with only a few spots on the shelves left completely bare. No purchase limits were posted other than for 9mm and .22, which continue to have a two box limit.

On a related note, I saw a story from Al Jazeera America asserting some gun stores have gone out of business because they couldn't get enough ammo to sell.  The story was from August, but I suspect it's noting something where the critical phase passed several months earlier.

Things may not be there yet, but inventories and availability of guns appear close to normal, and ammo's recovery seems to be coming along nicely. Of course, there's always the possibility of another politically induced shockwave that could trigger another buying surge, leaving shelves empty once again.