Here in New Jersey, there appears to be a different type of panic buying. In my last 3 visits to  a gun shop (Shore Shot) in the past 2 weeks, I've seen lots more pistols being bought than rifles.

In New Jersey, in order to buy a pistol, you're required to obtain pistol purchase permit from your local police. Approval for the pistol permits can take anywhere from a month to several months depending on the local chief of police.

Last night I saw 2 women who had been waiting for their pistol permits since November and just recently got their permits in hand. One bought her very first gun, a S&W model 60. She had only been to the range once before and said that she settled on the revolver since she wasn't able to rack the slide on any of the semi-autos.

The other woman in the store wound up buying a Glock and a Charter Arms snubbie.  She did have a friend with her who was very knowledgeable who helped her select those two guns.  She had no clue what she was buying or even how to handle the two weapons. She said she applied for her permits after election day and just got them today and didn't want to miss out on owning a gun.

None of these two women were interested in any of the rifles or shotguns on display. They both wanted something small and thats why they settled on hand guns.

As for the men, most were buying pistols as well. Saw a few Beretta's, Kimbers and Sigs sell within a half hour of my gun store visit.

There was only one AR15 type rifle on display, an Hk Sl8, a Kel Tec Sub 2000, a couple of Beretta CX4 Storms and the usual assortment of rifles and shotguns.

In my visits to the gun store, I only saw 1 rifle sold while the pistols were flying off the shelves.

I assume that the panic buying, at least for pistols, is still underway here in NJ due to the delays in getting handgun purchase permits.

Panic buying not over yet, At least in my area. Had a friend call this morning to tell me he had bought a new XD9. Gun store where he got it had no 9mm ammo. He went to closest W/M, they were out. Checked two other stores on way to second W/M, no 9mm.
Second Wal-Mart had ONE 50rd box of win. W/B for $11.xx. First W/M said they had received one case on Fri. and it was gone by noon. I'm in the process of getting him set up to reload but I checked on 9mm bullets on line this morning and they seem to be in short supply also. (not to mention expensive .15 -.20 per bullet.)

Imagine lots of these gun sellers that are pushing and profeting from the "better buy it now befor it is banned panic" aint to happy with the Democratic Gov. of New York putting in Kirsten Gillibrand as the senate replacement for Clinton. After all how you going to convince anyone that the Democrates are out to take your guns away when Charles Schumer was actually pushing for this Pro gun canadate the NRA gave a 100% rating too ?
Why are the prices way up right now? Is it because of anything the Goverment or any politicians are doing? Nope it is because gun people are taking advantage of the situation and trying to make as much money as they can off other gun people, think about it in who interest is it to have a panic buying like this go on? Why of course people selling the guns. The more panic they foster and the worse they make it look the more money they get. From everything I have heard they are the only people even talking about gun controll right now.
I don't think they can keep fooling many people for to much longer. I imagine in a few months prices [and demand] will really fall to below what they were befor the election and these dealers will find loads or rifles and ammo suddenly to sell.....Todd

Contacted Model 1 sales couple days ago to check on my AR kit order from Nov 15. Told me about 10 days more wait time and that they are 7000 orders behind. The poor guy sounded exhausted....

My local Cabelas has no AR's, AK's, etc. 223 ammo is everywhere, no 7.62x39 at all.

I think that the panic buying for many things is slowing - but there are still areas where the supply chain needs to catch-up before prices will substantially return to normal.  AR and similar EBR rifle types haven't yet caught up with demand.... but I think its getting close.  I saw a 6920 offered for $1350 and a gun show 3 weeks ago... and that is way down over other asking prices I have seen.  There are still plenty of dealers with inflated prices.  Some are just purely profit-taking - and other probably paid inflated mark-up from wholesalers to get inventory in competition with other dealers that need the same.

I consider these inflated prices to be "asking prices".  As people become "spent out" and satisfy their needs - the market will right itself.  The soft economy will help this.

Ammo has not caught up and prices for the most popular military calibers remain high.  IMO this will take longer to correct unless quantities of foreign surplus arrive at our shores.

The best thing to do is walk away from high prices and wait for things to normalize.  The ARE sellers with reasonable prices out there and their deals are worth waiting for.

Oh, and Good! i am glad you did not get ripped off.

StagPower

Think of it like a big "going away" party for these gun store owners. If/when the Dems do their thing, those store owners are screwed, blued, and tattooed. Most will have to close...at least in anti gun states like NY, NJ, CT, etc..

Let them make a few bucks before the party stops.

This!

I was just at the Crossroads of the West gun show in Phoenix.

I literally walked in and walked up to the J&G Sales booth and had to wait 20 minutes to even talk to one of the sales people.  J&G usually has the cheapest ammo prices at this show and usually will have more ammo than anyone else.  They had people backed up around their area 2 to 3 deep all the way around.  Everyone was buying in bulk, 500, 1000, some people were buying multiple thousands of rounds in all different calibers.  I think they will sell out fast today.

I don't think the panic buying has subsided just yet.  I got my ammo and left, one of my sons was sick so we couldn't stay.

The higher prices are just a sign of the times.  I guess I am lucky, I have a good gunshop nearby.  I was in there yesterday and picked up some 380.  There was two stacks of Winchester white box.  One stack was 5 bucks less then the other.  Same exact bullets.  The owner will not raise his prices once they are on the shelf, but the newer boxes had a higher price.  

He sets the price when he receives his products and will not screw you over.  I picked up 223 brass for 35 bucks a thousand a few weeks ago.  He just happened to have a pile of it laying on a shelf.

I am certain the new brass will be much higher.

You're fortunate to have a real businessman nearby.
I'm going back to Reno Monday. I should have time to cruise Cabelas, and Sportsmans Warehouse.
Not really in the hunt for anything, unless it's too good of a deal to pass up.
M

Ammo is not hard to find. Yea the Walmarts are sold out but Natchez has plenty. 9mm WWB is $212.00 including tax at Walmart when it was in stock. Delivered to my door from Natchez that does have it in stock the price is $220.00 . 8 bucks, big deal.
As for PMags I ordered some from LaRue on 1/13/09 and they were shipped on 1/22/09 .

We were at our local shop today picking up powder - IMR 3130.  The shop had two one-pound bottles left, and the owner said he ordered more last December and was told that it would be delivered this fall.

Also, the owner isn't likely to BS us as we have a good working relationship with him.  We're an 07/02 (he's an 01) and he refers a lot of people to us for gunsmithing.

I work part time at a gander mt when I'm not TA'ing or teaching; we hardly ever see any ar's sitting around besides the Remington/ camo jobs. We have been having to order them from Bill Hicks for customers and have had a heck of a time since the weeks before the election keeping up with demand for them and short barreled shotguns.

ben

Nope. Shelves are bare. Looks like an AWB is already in effect. Nothing that might be impacted remains. The owner literally removed the racks where all the ARs and AK used to be.

His present stock makes it look like it is a gunshop in CA.

I spoke to a certain folding stock company yesterday to check on the status of my order for an AK folding stock.  He said he just got them in stock in yesterday after several week's delay (has been slammed with orders since election day with no stopping).  

I then asked to change my order from an external no-mods receiver block to an internal receiver block (i had decided to cut off the buttstock tang).  He said he's out of stock indefinitely on the internal receiver blocks –– his supplier cannot give him a date by which he can supply more because he's so backordered.

This hint of another AWB soon will insure a new wave of panic buying. Watch and see.

––

"These are weapons of war, and they don't belong on the streets of Miami or any other street in America," Mayor Manuel Diaz said.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/24/miami.shooting/

Chief of Police and Mayor both demanded immediate reinstatement of the ban on assault weapons.

The Mayor said Biden has assured him the new improved ban on assault weapons will be reinstated in short order.

––
 
Watch Miami residents call for stricter laws
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/24/miami.shooting/#cnnSTCVideo

I have to say everybody's situation sounds completely different went to my local gun store saturday.  Bought an xDm9 they had plenty of 7.62x39 and .223 even tho it was wolf the .223 was $300 for a thousand rounds.  They had 5 ars on the shelf has been that way since before the election an prices are still the same.

Was just going to post this as well.  Here it comes.  

I went to Reno Cablelas on Dec 22nd to look and put stuff on hold. I went back on Dec 24th to buy. We got there 11am and didn't leave until 2pm. IE: It took damn near 3 hrs to get a hamburg and pick up my stuff. Both times people were stacked like cord wood at the gun counter.

Don't think the panic has really even started yet. Dems will be using this event or one like it to crack down. As soon as they really start pushing for open gun control then the real panic will start. Two buddies of mine have only entered 'panic' mode in the last couple of weeks. Both are union guys who only wanted Bush gone and saw either BO or McCain as a better alternative. They are waking up now. More will be joining them soon.

I still think the biggest thing is that people who were doing the bulk of the panic buying were not the regular gun enthusiasts but a large number of people who hadn't bought a gun before or not for a long time.

Many of these people are loosing their jobs and as many more people are out of work or suffering financial difficulties the demand for any and all guns and ammo will continue to subside.  They just won't continue to re-prioritze their financial situation to continue to purchase guns and ammo like the hard core gun people do.

I think the current lack of inventory in the distribution pipeline from the recent buying frenzy makes the current situation look worse than it really is.  Things should start to
improve as manufacturers start to get caught up.

Local news did a story on how many people are trying to pawn stuff at local pawn shops. Pawn shop owners have stopped taking some items because sales of items (when owners don't repay) are way down.

However, there were a couple notable exceptions to reduced purchases and sales...guns and motorcycles.

There really can't be much "panic" buying locally at this point. There aren't any AR or AK, or AWB type stuff left anyway, and ammo is very sparse.

being over here in the sandbox really sucks cuz the only place i can look is online.  its pretty much useless at this point to check any websites for any gun related items, besides ammo, and thats not easy to find either.

ive pretty much stuck to the EE here and while its easier to find most things, the prices are the same as the stores on most things.  its not just the dealers and gun store owners out there, its normal guys that want to make an extra few bucks on something they bought a while ago now that the prices have gone up so much.

i'll be home on leave in a couple months so i'll hit all the gun stores around Knoxville but i dont really expect to find too much...i hope im surprised

I just paid $1500 for a RRA pistola...... I know, I'm sick.

that sucks.  At the cabelas in fort worth you could have had a brand new springfield m1 loaded with wood stock.

powder was out when i was there...some jackass bought 280 lbs of it the week before.

I went to my local fun shop two days ago to pick up another romanian AK... or so I thought.

They usually have 5-10.  Saturday they only had one.  It was on consignment and they wanted $900!!!

Dear god.

On the way out I noticed Remington .223 for $160/200 rounds.

I'm getting sick of this.