HOW MANY BULLETS DO YOU HAVE?
I was supposed to go shooting tonight. The guys from church had the twice-a-year gun social – and I didn’t go. And it wasn’t because I’ve got a cold.
It was because I wanted to save my ammunition.
You don’t have to shoot much to know that the price of ammunition has gone through the roof lately and some of it simply is not available.
If you’re looking for a case of .223 for your AR-15 system, you better enlist, or be prepared to wait a long time. Some police departments, are waiting six months and longer for .223.
Why’s that?
Because of the war.
The stuff we feed our black rifles has all gone off to help jihad boys get their 76 virgins. When supplies will loosen up is anybody’s guess.
A second reason for scarcity and expense is the skyrocketing cost of lead and copper. Ammunition makers say that demand for the metals – especially from China and India – has hiked up prices everywhere.
And that puts us in a bind. And hopefully it also teaches us a lesson.
See, you can keep and bear all the arms in the world, but unless you’ve got something to put in them to make them go bang-bang, all you’ve got is an assortment of very expensive clubs.
So make your plan now. How will you stockpile ammunition or reloading supplies. What will you do to make sure that, push come to shove, you have guns AND ammo.
Here’s my plan. Every payday I buy a box of shells and I put them away. They aren’t for shooting, they are for storing. If the price goes up, or if the supply dries up, I’m still going to have ammunition.
And you should make sure you do, too.
I believe in being self-reliant. I’m collecting a year’s worth of food in the basement, enough firewood to last me two winters, five barrels of water, and several thousand rounds of ammunition.
I’m not paranoid or crazy, but I am prepared, and I would urge you to be too.
Ammunition has become harder to get. That should get us thinking about how we can prepare for when it might be impossible to get.
It’s like the Boy Scouts say: Be prepared.
And it’s like the Bible says: If ye are prepared ye shall not fear.
Ammunition may seem like an extreme thing to be worried about, or an odd thing to stockpile. But it is a tool and a resource, and when you need it, you need it. And as it becomes harder to get and harder to afford, firearms owners need to make an effort and a plan to keep themselves supplied.
- by Bob Lonsberry © 2007
