1. Panic buying. The pandemic, then the riots, then the election, now the reality of the new administration and congress.

2. Millions of new gun owners both needing and panic buying ammo.

3. Each new move from Washington means the panic will not lessen in the near future.

I was talking to a friend of mine from church the other day. He had no guns at all 12 months ago. He had previously poo-pooed the need for home defense guns or to carry. We live in a "safe" community.

The subject of the current situation(s) in this country came up, and he said he now he has a carry permit and was carrying.

I asked him how he could find / afford the ammo.

Well, he then described his "arsenal"... all acquired in the last 12 months:

• An AR-15
• Two 9mm handguns
• 10,000 rounds of ammunition.

Yeah, he has the money for it and he was panicked. He said he was also looking into getting a semi-auto shotgun.

Clearly, he was panicked.

He may be extreme, but that is the behavior that is driving a lot of this.

You need nothing more than to watch some of the auctions over on Gunbroker to see what people are actually willing to pay these days.