Panic Buying After Vegas Shooting
Kevin Felts 10.13.17
After the recent mass murders in Las Vegas, why didn’t gun owners go into panic buying mode? Maybe it was because Republicans control both houses of congress, and President Trump had declared himself a friend of the NRA?
Or could the lack of panic buying been caused by something else?
In the days following the Sandy Hook shooting, gun sellers everywhere were sold out. Some people may have said, “You just had to know where to look,” but in reality finding an AR for sale was just a matter of luck. Online stores who’d had hundreds of magazines in stock were sold out in seconds after the Sandy Hook shooting.
Some gun sellers who didn’t sell out actually pulled their stock of AR-15 rifles. Cheaper Than Dirt pulled their online inventory and edited their gun pages to say, “CheaperThanDirt.com does not sell firearms.”
It was as if numerous gun stores were attempting to separate themselves from the AR-15.
After Vegas Shooting
This time we find that bump stocks are sold out, and there have been rumors saying high-capacity Pmags were sold out, but as of October 13, 2017, there are numerous 60-round magazines and drums available. There are even some of the old 90-round drums available.
Before the Vegas shooting, numerous online sellers were running sales on AR-15 magazines.
After the Vegas shooting, prices remained the same and sales were continuing,
One Republican introduced a ban on bump stocks. Upon first glimpse, the bill does not seem to have widespread support.
Something else I noticed is the lack of “Get them while you can” nonsense on magazines.
Final Thoughts
So why wasn’t there widespread panic buying after the Vegas shooting? I am sure there was some panic buying, but not enough to make a dent in current inventories.
Is it because we have a Republican President?
Is it because the GOP controls both houses of Congress?
Or is the market saturated from eight years of Obama followed by the threat of Hillary?
