Record low supply of firearms lead to gun store shortages

LYNNWOOD, Wash. — As firearms sales spike, an increasing number of gun stores are reporting shortages of firearms and ammunition.

“Most of our cases are empty and unfortunately we can’t fill them as quickly as we would like,” said Tiffany Teasdale, owner of Lynnwood Gun, adding that it’s been a time of nonstop sales and nonstop stress. “People will be coming in, and they will be screaming at you because ammunition prices went up. That’s totally out of our control,” she told KIRO 7.

Like so many products out there, specific gun parts are often made overseas.

As COVID-19 continues to ravage many countries, gun production is taking a sizable hit.

“With all the restrictions, and there are complete country-wide shutdowns because of COVID, they’re not manufacturing anything,” Teasdale noted.

Supplies are currently down while demand is at astonishing levels.

In 2020, gun sales were the highest since record-keeping began in the mid-90s.

“We’re kinda stuck,” Teasdale acknowledges. “We try to make everything in the United States, but not everything is made in the United States.”

At this rate, all expectations are that 2021 will set a new record for gun sales, even if actual guns are slower to be made.

Cox Media Group