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FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021

- TOP STORY -
With Vice President Kamala Harris and Attorney General Merrick Garland looking, President Joe Biden took to the White House Rose Garden to keep his campaign promise to anti-gun groups and issued six “initial actions” he says will combat gun violence. Labeling gun crimes a “public health crisis,” Biden insisted none of his actions “in any way impinges on the Second Amendment” calling Second Amendment proponents arguments “phony”. Second Amendment organizations disagree. Biden stepped up that rhetoric, “no amendment to the Constitution is absolute.” Biden’s “initial actions" include directing the Justice Department to propose a rules to stop “ghost guns,” redefine pistol braces, propose action on community violence intervention, produce a pilot “red flag” law for all states, and issue to a report on gun trafficking. If those weren’t enough, he announced his nomination of former ATF agent turned-anti-gun consultant David Chipman to head the ATF.
- COMPETITION -
The National Field Archery Association’s state organization known as the Oklahoma State Archery Association hosted their State Championship in conjunction with the Oklahoma S3DA program at Arrowhead Archery Pro Shop in Del City, Oklahoma.
In compliance with the CDC guidelines, Kentucky S3DA staff decided it would be in everyone’s best interests to host the annual Indoor State Championship at six different locations across the state.
The Ontelaunee Jr. Rifle Team, based out of New Tripoli, Pennsylvania, earned the overall precision spot in the Civilian Marksmanship Program’s 2020-2021 Three-Position Air Rifle Postal event.
The Scholastic Action Shooting Program announced the winners of the 2021 Intercollegiate International Pistol National Championships. At the request of the coaches in the program, SASP this year became the National Governing Body for the Collegiate Pistol Nationals.

27,577 student athletes representing 1,308 high school and college teams in 34 states are participating in USA Clay Target League (USACTL) programs this spring. In addition, more than 7,800 local volunteers will serve as coaches, range safety officers, and team staff.
Team Federal had an excellent showing at the 25th Anniversary of the Superstition Mountain Mystery 3-Gun Match held at Rio Salado Sportsman's Club in Mesa, Arizona. Federal Ammunition was a premier match sponsor for a third consecutive year.
- FISHING TOURNAMENTS -
Consistency will be critical at the Basspro.com Bassmaster Southern Open on Douglas Lake, but Tennessee pro John Garrett says Mother Nature has been stirring the pot.
- GRANTS -
Kansas City women’s outdoor organization wildHERness has received a George H.W. Bush Vamos A Pescar Education Fund grant to provide funding for educational fishing programming and conservation awareness in urban areas.

- HUNTING -
Michigan's spring turkey season, beginning April 17, is the perfect way to kick off spring.
- INDUSTRY -
On March 8, 2021, the Civilian Marksmanship Program’s Talladega Marksmanship Park in Alabama played host to the inaugural Shooting Sports Showcase – a private event designed for marksmanship wholesalers, dealers and media members to come together in observation of the trailblazing efforts emerging within the industry’s world today.
RSR Group’s 2021 Spring E-Show starts Tuesday, April 13th and concludes on Friday, April 16, 2021. This online event allows dealers to take advantage of incredible deals and savings.
Benelli USA announces the addition of the French gun manufacturer Chapuis to its portfolio of brands offered in the United States. The longtime producer of premium upland shotguns and big-game rifles joins Benelli, Franchi, Stoeger and Uberti USA brands under the Benelli USA umbrella.

Primary Arms Online announced the hiring of Noelani Eichner as the company’s new Graphic Designer. Noelani worked with the National Shooting Sports Foundation as a Graphic Designer, Presentation Designer, Photoshoot Coordinator, and Event App Manager.
Savage Arms announced that it has signed on as a Gold Sponsor to the Canadian Rimfire Precision Series. The series includes more than twenty events annually, and Savage’s Precision Series rifles are a perfect fit for these competitions.
Kelly Brand Management (KBM), a sales, marketing, and business management consultancy helped their client, Crosskix, with their GoWild brand partnership.
- MEDIA -
Host Michael Waddell has a Bone to Pick with the outdoor industry and its personalities, musicians, and even his closest buddies. In his first ever podcast, “Waddy” asks the tough questions, and holds nothing back.

- NATIONAL -
The Second Amendment Foundation warned the Biden Administration that if it steps over its legal authority with any executive action or order regarding the constitutionally-protected right to keep and bear arms, legal action is a certainty.
The U.S. Concealed Carry Association commended Tennessee Governor Bill Lee for signing SB 765 – a “constitutional carry” bill – into law, making Tennessee the 20th state to allow responsibly-armed Americans to carry concealed handguns without a permit.
- NEW PRODUCTS -
Irish Setter MudPaw shoes are waterproof slip-ons for working in the garden, doing chores or taking a walk in the rain.
- NOW STREAMING -
Mark Calaway, AKA The Undertaker, recently joined the Realtree 365 video crew on a hunt for the notoriously tough Alabama longbeard.

Now available in time for spring turkey season are two full seasons of the popular series, Avian-X Turkey Tour on MyOutdoorTV (MOTV). Viewers can join up with Mark Drury and the gang at Drury Outdoors as they set out to hunt some irresistible gobblin’ longbeards.
- ORGANIZATIONS -
The U.S. Concealed Carry Association said that the new gun control measures proposed by President Biden would do virtually nothing to actually reduce crime or help more Americans keep their families safe.
The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute announced two new additions to staff — Alan Serven as Senior Director of Technical Affairs and Alexander “Nico” Wirtz as Director of International Affairs. Both will begin their SAAMI duties on May 1.
Building upon an existing conservation and working lands partnership, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever is pleased to announce the United Sorghum Checkoff Program (USCP) as the organization’s newest national sponsor.

The Council to Advance Hunting and the Shooting Sports postponed the in-person National R3 Symposium until 2022 and is offering a virtual event in its place. The 2021 Virtual R3 Forum will occur on May 5 from 12 to 5 PM Eastern and registration is now open.
- PARTNERSHIPS -
HuntStand® is proud to announce a partnership with the National Wild Turkey Federation that will pave the way for both respected organizations to continue growing and prospering now and into the future.
- RADIO -
It’s the importance of watching gun control groups and legislation at both the state and federal levels, Second Amendment sanctuary cities, easy ways to build or upgrade your firearms, and more, this week on Tom Gresham's Gun Talk Radio.
- RECOGNITION -
Amanda Wuestefeld, director of the Indiana DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife, received the Purdue University College of Agriculture Distinguished Alumni late last month.

- STATES -
As part of the upcoming Lincoln City Nature Challenge, Lancaster County families are encouraged to participate in the virtual City Nature Challenge Speaker Series in April.
With more people getting outdoors to take advantage of the state’s warm, spring weather, it’s important to keep in mind that 13 species of rattlesnakes also call Arizona home. Statewide, 35 bites were reported last April to the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center.
The Ohio Wildlife Council approved all 2021-22 hunting regulations during its regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday, April 7, 2021.
- TELEVISION -
From Kissimmee, Florida, nine anglers compete in the Patriot Cup Elimination Round Two on Major League Fishing Cups, airing Saturdays at 2 p.m. ET exclusively on Outdoor Channel.
Army Buck Hunters, now airing new episodes on Sundays at 7 p.m. ET on Sportsman Channel, consists of professional soldiers who just happen to be really good, avid outdoorsmen with a far more important mission.
The 2021 NASCAR season marks Jeb Burton’s first full season racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for the Kaulig Racing Team. This year also marks Burton’s third full season hunting, fishing and sharing those outdoor exploits on Sportsman Channel’s Crossroads with the Burtons (Tuesdays at 7 p.m. ET).

 

Top pros and avid fisherman share their adventures and trade competitive secrets on World Fishing Network’s Reel Fishing Wednesdays block of programming from 6–10 p.m. ET.
The High Road with Keith Warren and Legends Ranch are continuing their longstanding partnership for 2021 as they continue to support all aspects of hunting promotes the education of our youth in the outdoors.
- VOLUNTEERS -
The Indiana DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife and the Friends of Blue Grass FWA group are searching for volunteers to help with their cleanup of Blue Grass Fish & Wildlife Area on Saturday, April 10, at 9 a.m. CT.
- WASHINGTON -
Young Americans for Liberty Interim President Sean Themea called President Biden’s proposed “red flag’ laws “one of the worst measures for the Second Amendment that America has even seen, making our country less safe and less free. Despite 19 states and Washington, D.C. already having red flag laws, they seem to have no impact on reducing gun violence."
 

Everyone knows that communists are disgusting fools who promote an ideology that killed hundreds of millions of people and still threatens to destroy freedom and prosperity, but did you know that you—yes, you—are also a filthy little commie puke?

British historian Robert Conquest (correctly) opined that “everyone is conservative about what he knows best.” This fundamental truth applies even to those on the left, particularly the activist class. While they may call for higher taxes, for example, they do everything they can to protect their own money from the government. Likewise, most people simply don’t take massive risks with their own lives, money, property, etc., despite many being willing to demand that you take risks with yours. One glaring example is the fact that employees of labor unions are often forbidden from…forming a union. Why? Because the union knows darn well that having a unionized workforce is bad for management, so when management is them, workers’ rights be damned. But this law of politics is not the subject of this article.

I would posit an additional law, one that is arguably the inverse of Conquest’s. It is thus: “Almost everyone is a communist about what they want.” I didn’t fully comprehend this fundamental truth until the Great Ammunition Crisis of 2020-2021 hit.

Around the fall of 2020, I started to see forum comments, social media posts and reactions, remarks on web articles, etc.—and I mean tons of it— from upstanding, law-abiding, patriotic Americans. Virtually all of them were whining about first the lack of availability of guns and ammunition, and soon after the increased prices of both.

To start, virtually every single one cried foul about the lack of supply. Despite a healthy dose of reporting on the subject in shooting media outlets and even coverage in the mainstream media, almost everyone who commented about the issue insisted that there must be some conspiracy restricting supply. The fact that there was a pandemic that made work conditions less-than-optimal for production and disrupted supply lines, or the fact that five to 10 million new gun owners entered the market in a period of about 90 days did not matter. There must have been some sinister force at play.

Balderdash.

The supply problems were entirely due to an unprecedented increase in demand combined with COVID social-distancing measures and some resultant hiccups in the supply chain. But that was merely the start of seeing how fine Americans who likely identify as conservative or libertarian—but certainly not leftist, socialist or, with apologies to P.J. O’Rourke, puke-gutted-bolshevik-rectum-eater—slowly morphed into dirty, filthy communists.

Around the beginning of 2021, the complaints began to change as the ammunition supply began to increase and inventory started to show up on retailers’ shelves, albeit at prices most would consider ridiculous, like $50 for a 50-round box of Russian steel-cased 9 mm. I get it; that commie garbage should be like 15 cents per round, not a buck per shot. But, why might prices have increased?

Because. Of. Demand.

I will say it again: because of demand. Everyone knows that the whole damn country is buying or wants to buy ammunition. The pandemic, violent rioting in our cities, cuts in law enforcement budgets, calls to eliminate the police and hateful, eliminationist rhetoric directed at supporters of the 45th President of the United States are but a few reasons why many—if not most—Americans thought 2020 would be a good year to arm up to protect hearth, home and family. As mentioned, between five and 10 million people bought a gun for the first time in 2020. They probably figured out that the gun is fairly useless without ammunition, so they bought at least a couple of boxes of the bangy stuff, too. Add to that the 80 to 100 million Americans who owned guns prior to 2020 also recognizing that things weren’t (and indeed still aren’t) looking all that safe or stable and therefore it might be time to add to their ammo stockpile, and you can see how an increase in demand in the neighborhood of literally billions more rounds of ammunition hit like a meteor between March and June of 2020, continuing through the rest of that year and into 2021.

Supply could not match that demand, no matter how many shifts or machines were added to manufacturing capacity. When demand goes up while supply either stays the same, decreases or increases at a slower rate than demand, prices increase. This is not even Econ 101; it’s like the first discussion on the subject that one might encounter in their freshman year of high school, or maybe even earlier.

But many otherwise conservative, libertarian or just not-soulless-pinko-commie Americans simply would not accept this basic principle of economics. “Price gouging!” They cried. “Unfair to the working folks!” They bellowed. “Something must be done to stop the price increases!” They demanded. “Boycott retailers who jack up prices!” They shrieked. Why? Why would otherwise reasonable people who recognize the dangers posed by statism, socialism and wretched-filthy-revolting-pig-monkey communism demand with full voice and passion that ammunition be doled out from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs?

Because almost everyone is a communist about what they want.

And therein lies a major problem, because communism is a disgusting evil that needs to be blotted from the universe, but the people I used to think were most inclined to do so are actually closet bolsheviks. You want price controls on ammo? Fine, but why stop there? Why not have price controls on other things that people need, like food? After all, the Soviet Union was known for producing massive grain surpluses and having so much food that no one had to wait in line at a supermarket to buy endless options of every kind of food one could imagine, right?

Oh, wait. No, that’s the opposite of reality. Those communist swine had to import grain from the hated imperialist Americans, and some Soviet citizens were lucky enough to get to wait in a line stretching from Gorky Park to Dzerzhinsky Square to buy whatever meat was available on Thursday, which was your day to maybe buy miscellaneous cattle offal for your table, if there was enough to go around.

But prices were stable, comrade! Well, they weren’t, because things people actually wanted were sold on a very-capitalist-indeed black market. Purchased nalyevo, on the left, was how ordinary people got “luxury” goods like pantyhose, blue jeans, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, etc. in that stinking commie rathole.

Apparently, many people want that same situation to apply to ammunition and firearms in our beloved country. And I get it. Times are tough. Heavy-handed lockdowns and social-distancing mandates during the pandemic have cost millions of jobs and destroyed significant sources of income. People who were just minding their own business have been faced with 400- to 500-percent price hikes on ammunition at a time when spending-money is in short supply. Having some imaginary wicked force to blame is comforting, even if that blame is misplaced, incorrect and ignorant of how the economy (any economy) operates. Demanding someone or thing come fix the problem by force—because all laws are threats to use force to obtain compliance—is, sadly, an all-too-common, but understandable reaction to discovering a difficulty getting what one wants, when one wants it, for a price one considers “fair” (which for a great many people is “free”).

That reaction is why communism remains a threat despite being thoroughly discredited in the last century. And almost everyone has that reaction when something they want gets hit with a price shock. Because almost everyone is a communist about what they want.

As a result, I weep for the future.

— “Koba”

Koba is a pseudonym for one of the industry’s well-known writers and observers. The piece was written “after answering no fewer than 150 emails from people telling me about ‘the ammo conspiracy.’”

 
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