Ammo coming back in stock

A nationwide ammo shortage that resulted from a run on guns by consumers since the election of President Barack Obama seems to be letting up as suppliers catch up with the increased demand – at least for one local dealer.

“It was tough for a couple of months because after the election everyone panicked and started buying up all the ammo,” Terri Tracy, the owner of Luling’s Treasure Hunt Arms, said. “Now, we are pretty much stocked up. Everybody panicked for no reason.”

Gun and ammunition sales surged across the nation since Obama’s election because of a fear that his administration will put additional restrictions in place. Some of the measures that he supports are closing a loophole allowing sales without background checks at gun shows, tighter registration of handguns and a national law against carrying concealed weapons. So far, Obama has mostly bypassed the gun issue as he has instead turned his focus to the economy and the country’s health care system.

But that didn’t slow down gun and ammo sales, which surged during the first five months of the year.

“Instead of coming in and  buying 50 rounds, people were coming in a buying one or two cases,” Tracy said. “Our sales are still strong now even though we are getting our inventory back up.”

While the inventory may be  back to normal, Tracy still has concerns that Obama will come back to the gun issue in the immediate future. One of those upcoming battles could be over assault weapons, which some say Obama could seek to ban during his term.

“I’m not worried much about an assault weapon ban because I don’t think it could go through,” Tracy said. “There are enough Democrats from conservative states who would have a hard time getting re-elected if they supported it.”

But even though Tracy isn’t worried about that gun control measure, she can’t shake the feeling that Obama will eventually try to introduce legislation to make purchasing weapons difficult.

“Right now, the president is too concerned with health care and other issues like that and his plate is pretty full,” she said. “But I have to think that he’s going to come back at us again soon.”