Gun owners stocking up on ammo, stores running out

FLORENCE, Ky. - President Barack Obama's recently proposed gun control reform is causing gun owners to stock up on ammunition wherever they can get it.

Gun ammo is flying off the shelves at P.O.W Outdoors in Florence, Ky. Whether you're looking for 223 Remington ammo or 40 Caliber ammo, it may be nearly impossible to find at many gun stores.

"They're just buying as much as they can buy. If they can't get it in six or seven months down the road if they pass some kind of crazy bill, then they are buying as much as they can so it'll last them," said P.O.W Outdoor owner Ron Gilbert.

The last significant federal gun law was 1994's assault weapons ban which was passed five years before the Columbine High School shooting massacre and expired in 2004. Gun owners are in fear that the current administration will pass new gun regulations that place even more restrictions on gun enthusiasts.

Gun stores are also finding it harder to find ammunition to stock their shelves.

"I go to different websites that I normally wouldn’t use just to find ammo just so I can have something in the store to sell," said Gilbert who opened the Florence gun store in June 2012. "A lot of the times that reflects back on the customer because if I have to pay more for it, then I have to charge more for it."

Gilbert says people are trying to make money on the fear of new gun regulations by selling ammo for more than double and even triple of what they paid for it in the store. Websites like www.armslist.com and www.gunbroker.com showcase a variety of ammo on sale for much more than the whole sale price yet people are still using the sites as an avenue to stock up.

"Six months ago you could buy a thousand rounds of 223 ammo for $300. Now it's going for a thousand rounds of 223's for $1000 dollars," said Gilbert.

When P.O.W Outdoors receives an order of ammunition it is usually sold out in as soon as two days. The owners say a shipment used to arrive days after an order. It now takes the whole sale companies months to deliver an order.

Stores like Walmart and Dick's Sporting Goods are also seeing a shortage of ammunition because of how fast it sells once a shipment comes in. Larger stores however will place a limit on how much ammunition one person is allowed to purchase.