The Covid-19 pandemic and other current events such as rioting has caused a lot of people to become more nervous about the state of the world today. Many feel much less safe than they did a year ago. This has caused many previously neutral or anti-gun individuals to seek to purchase a gun and ammunition. This sudden rise in demand has caused surprises for many that have decided to buy a gun for protection.
The first surprise that many are finding is that, unlike a year ago, the shelves of their local gun store are not brimming with whatever gun they might want. Some popular brands, like Glock, or models, like the Smith & Wesson Shield, are hard to find in many areas. In addition, lots of the guns that occupy the lower price bracket are also very hard to find. This leaves many new, possibly minimally informed, buyers in a tough spot.
The second surprise that these new shooters run into is related to ammunition. While some gun stores have held back a bit of ammo to ensure that gun buyers get at least a box or 2, in many places the shelves are almost bare. Popular handgun calibers including 9mm, .45ACP, and .380 are in very low stock, if not absent in most places. Where they can be found, lots of stores have doubled or even tripled the price based on the demand. The same goes for a lot of popular rifle calibers. Ones like .223, 5.56, 7.62×39, .308, 30-06, and 30-30 are also absent. This means that any buyers that could not find a handgun, but instead bought a rifle for home defense are in the same boat.
The last surprise I am going to cover differs on a state by state and country by country basis. Often these buyers that show up to buy a gun, manage to find one, and ammo for it, are then told that there is a waiting period ranging from 3 days up to 14 days before they can take that gun home. In addition some states require the buyer to have a particular permit that can take up to 6 months to get. To many this is unfathomable since they are buying guns to protect themselves from threats that are now, not in 2 weeks.
Now while I normally cover preparation planing here, I have had gun related posts before. I do feel that everyone that can should have a firearm of some sort, but this is not the point of this post. The point is to emphasize why you should plan and gather resources BEFORE things get to the point that you need them. This just happens to be a very clear situation where many did not and it caused them issues. There again, I do commend those that have watched local events and recognized that they are the only ones that can be responsible for their own safety. As the saying goes, Better late than never.
As always, if you have questions, feel free to contact me and I will provide you any information that I can to help further your emergency planning.