ONONDAGA COUNTY, N.Y. (NCC News) — Richard Yenny, an employee at Ra-Lin Sporting Goods for years, has never seen an ammo shortage quite like this.
David Steinberg, Ra-lin Sporting Goods’ manager, said the issue dates back to the beginning of the pandemic. It started as what they hoped would only be a three-month stint, which then turned into a concern for the entirety of 2021 and became a fear that it would last longer than that. But retailers have struggled to stay fully stocked since, and it has been almost four years. Now, the expected level of demand has only increased and supply is not able to keep up with it.
“They keep on extending it another year now they’re saying it’ll be sometime next year before stuff will be back,” Steinberg said.
Steinberg said people rushed to buy ammo in 2020 like they hoarded toilet paper and bought fridges to store food when the pandemic struck.
Hunting season is currently in full swing, specifically the rut. This is a time period between the middle of October to early December when they mate. The current stock of ammo is depleting even more because of it, and Yenny said that the store can’t rely on just one supplier anymore to manage.
“We’ve really contacted anybody we can that might have supplies, but it’s dwindling,” he said. “I mean, even the high rollers, you know, the big, huge stores are having trouble. They can’t get stuff, so it’s not just us.”
Ra-lin Sporting Goods has had to raise prices, like many others, to keep up with demand. Finding ammo for guns will continue, especially during hunting season, until suppliers supply more and inflation goes down. Until then, Steinberg is urging individuals to keep others in mind and buy rounds in reasonable amounts.
