Ammo prices for many popular guns have more than tripled in the last three years, driven in large part by surging demand for metals in rapidly industrializing China.
As the Asian giant becomes wealthier, millions of tons of copper, lead and zinc, which are also used to make bullets and brass shell-casings, are being snapped up.
Shooters, gun dealers and sheriffs say the impact has been further aggravated by competition for limited ammo stocks with the U.S. military, currently fighting wars on two fronts in Iraq and Afghanistan [Tim Gaynor, "U.S. Shooters Feel Pinch as Ammo Prices Soar," Reuters via Yahoo News, 2008.05.19].
Dang -- so if fewer hunters can come pump up the South Dakota economy this year, we won't have lily-livered liberals to blame: the fault will lie with capitalists in China and neocons in the White House.
Don't forget Big Oil. At close to four dollars a gallon for gas (maybe more by late summer), some hunters may opt out of a trip they would take if it were cheaper.
ReplyDeleteI hope the "lily-livered liberals," should they gain complete power this fall, can muster up enough gall to deal with these problems effectively. Hope bleeds eternal.