Here at Bearing Arms, we’ve written a ton about how gun sales have skyrocketed this year. Honestly, Cam and I are getting a little bored writing those stories because, well, it’s starting to not really be news anymore. It’s just the new status quo, apparently.

It seems that a global pandemic followed by riots really does a number on folks who just want to be left alone. So, they bought guns. Now, they and every other gun owner on the planet has realized they don’t have nearly enough ammo.

That created a short-term boom for ammo sales, but now there’s no ammo left to buy. That’s creating a problem for some gun stores.

In an election year with protests happening across the country, gun sales are on the rise nationwide. But an ammunition shortage has left gun shop owners in Montana in a tough spot.

“I hate it when it’s like this,” said James Mitchell, owner of Mitchell Supply in Great Falls.

…

“People want to buy it; we can’t get it, and it just makes it more difficult,” he said. “It’s a nationwide thing. Eventually they’ll catch up, but like I say, it’s going to be pretty ugly here for the next few months.”

Honestly, it makes sense. I mean, you can’t sell what you don’t have on hand to sell. That means no money coming in except for smaller things like accessories, but that only goes so far.

The ammo shortage is also likely to hurt a lot of people beyond just the gun stores.

For example, a lot of trainers require people to have a certain amount of ammo on hand for classes. I’ve seen a ton of schools telling you to bring 1,000 rounds for a three-day class.

That means that if you can’t get 1,000 rounds, there’s no reason for you to spend the money for a training class.

Sure, a lot of people are still taking classes, but for how long?

In other words, the ramifications of this could go well beyond the struggles of your local gun store.

Meanwhile, manufacturers have opted not to expand production. They got bit a few years back after they stepped up manufacturing to meet an increased demand only for that demand to evaporate with the election of President Donald Trump. While things are tense right now, that could change at any moment and they don’t want to be looking at a full warehouse and reduced demand for their goods.

I get that.

Unfortunately, at some point, they’re almost going to have to step up their efforts at least to some degree, otherwise there won’t be many stores left to buy those products for later resale. Sure, they can sell on the internet, but a lot of people don’t want to buy ammo on the internet. They want to be able to talk to a local dealer and get their take on what is best.

Sure, a lot of those people don’t know what they’re talking about, which is about like every other store on the planet, but people feel better talking to someone they can feel is an expert.

With ammo to sell, though, how much longer will those supposed experts have jobs?