OLN, which has the Winchester brand, and Ammo Inc., which is building a factory in Wisconsin, are competing with a multitude of copper consumers. Leading ammunition makers like Vista Outdoor, and smaller ones like Olin Corp. Copper, a basic ingredient in bullets, is a sought-after metal in the international markets, with mines concentrated in South America. AFP PHOTO MARTIN BERNETTI (Photo credit should read MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty ImagesĪmmunition inflation is compounded by supply chain issues over basic components including primers, brass and lead. As all the other mining enterprises in Chile, it was nationalized in 1971 by late Chilean President Salvador Allende. Chuquicamata, the world biggest opencast mine, is 4,3 kilometer long, 3 km large and 825 meter deep. the foundry of the Chuquicamata copper mine, in the desert town of Calama, 1000 km north of Santiago, Chile, 25 October, 2005. He said that prices for firearms “have not gone above manufacturer's list prices, but certainly promotions and discounting has been minimal.”ĬALAMA, CHILE: TO GO WITH AFP STORY A worker negociates his way amid the melting pots of copper at. had resulted in dramatic price escalation - as well as rationing, for example limiting customers to a certain number of boxes to be sold per visit - since last year.” “There absolutely has been significant price inflation at the retail level for ammunition, though less so for firearms,” said Rommel Dionisio, an analyst for Aegis Capital. But ammunition is a product that’s intended to be used up and restocked. Some police departments have reportedly cut back on ammo consumption or expanded their budgets to pay the inflated prices.įirearms are less vulnerable to inflation, according to retailers I spoke with, presumably because they’re durable goods lasting for years and potentially for generations. It remains to be seen whether Biden can enact significant gun control legislation with a slim Democratic majority in Senate.īut guns aren’t much good without ammunition, which has been selling out since the start of the pandemic, leaving bare shelves in the ammo aisles in gun stores nationwide. Gun sales are being fueled by the specter of more restrictive gun control measures under President Joseph Biden, a Democrat who owns guns. More than 10 million people have bought guns for the first time during the pandemic, according to Mark Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Smith & Wesson. He said they’ve been stockpiling ammunition “just like the toilet paper, people taking whatever they can get even if they don’t need it.” “More so than Covid, was all the riots and anarchy and crime that created a bigger wave of people buying guns, and new buyers,” said Fiacable. Demand for firearms and ammunition is continuing at an elevated pace and the increased demand means prices have climbed.”Īmericans are buying guns because they fear for their self-protection against rising crime in major cities including gun violence, incidents of police brutality against Black Americans sparking volatile protests, an unrelenting cycle of mass shootings in multiple states, hate crimes versus Asian-Americans, and outbreaks of civil unrest including the Capitol riots of Jan. “That’s coupled with the basic laws of supply and demand. “The increased costs of raw materials, shipping, warehousing and distribution are costs that are being passed along to the customer,” said Mark Oliva, director of public affairs for the gun industry group the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

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