What’s Being Done About Ammunition Prices?
These days you hear a lot of people grousing about the high cost of fuel and home heating oil. Not to mention what it costs to simply put food on the family table. It sucks! It really sucks how our wallets seem a bit more empty all the time because of the high cost of all those “necessities” in life.
For the past two weeks I’ve listened to politicians make promises and more promises that if they are elected everything will be much better. Presumably, gas prices will come down, we’ll be eating a lot more steak rather than ground beef, you know the routine. As we inch closer to November 4th we’re all liable to hear some politician or another make the sort of promises we all want to hear in an effort to get our vote.
Well, there’s one promise I doubt you will hear any politician offer. What about doing something regarding the high cost of ammunition? In many instances the ammunition I typically buy for my rifles and handguns has nearly doubled. When you stop to think about it, the cost of ammunition, due mostly to sky-rocketing component costs, has far surpassed the rate of inflation. Not to mention the shortages of some popular calibers supposedly caused by a lingering war in the Gulf.
Quite honestly, I’m here to say I’m getting fed up with the cost of ammunition. If you want to win my vote then stand up as a politician and tell me what I want to hear. Sure, if we open up more lands to drill for oil this will likely help the gas market. But how about some promises to saturate the copper market so my copper-clad ammunition isn’t quite so costly. Seriously, each year I spend a lot of money on gasoline for my truck…but have you ever considered how much is spent on ammunition? I’m one who likes to plink and shoot year-round, not just when some hunting season is open.
Folks, as sportsmen I think we are on the verge of a serious problem resulting from high-priced ammunition. How can we possibly attract new shooters to our ranks when an afternoon on the range can easily cost a couple of hundred dollars (or even much more). Contrast this with the dilemma a person might have. Do I go shooting or do I go golfing? I know for many of us that is not even a question, but for some new prospect to our sporting ways they would likely see the cost as simply prohibitive. It’s certainly not attractive these days.
As if the high costs weren’t bad news enough, we now have legislatures all over the country hearing anti-gun bills in the form of encoding our ammunition so essentially each bullet has a serial number. Sounds like a wonderfully novel idea on the surface, but the bill is intended to drive ammunition costs way out of sight. You think you can’t afford to plink now, how will it feel knowing each time you pull the trigger it costs you $3 or more. Ouch!
I hate to say it but we might be just a decade or so away from recalling the “good ol’ days” to the younger generation by saying “I remember when we could afford to spend ALL DAY at the shooting range.” Don’t laugh…for many folks they already feel those days of making this statement are upon us.
No, in our sporting world we have a serious problem building in the form of ammunition getting too expensive. It really doesn’t matter much if you buy it retail or reload your own…the increasing cost is making all of us shooters wince as we break open our wallets.
And now, during a time when most politicians are promising us the moon in exchange for our vote…I ask you this. Just how refreshing would it be for some wannabe elected official to finally acknowledge we have a serious problem on-going for shooters. Oh sure, I know it won’t happen…but that doesn’t stop me from “hoping for a little change.”
2008 Jim Braaten. All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction without Prior Permission.