‘Secret dealing’? Emails show cozy relationship between EPA, environmental groups

Fox News – by John Roberts

Newly disclosed emails suggest senior policy officials at the Environmental Protection Agency and environmental groups are working closely to kill the Keystone XL pipeline, critics say.

“These damning emails make it clear that the Obama administration has been actively trying to stop this important project for years,” Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., who has long advocated for the Canada-to-Texas pipeline’s construction, said in a statement to Fox News.   

The emails were obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request by the Energy and Environment Legal Institute. In one communication, Lena Moffit of the Sierra Club wrote to three senior policy staffers at the EPA, including Michael Goo, who was then the associate administrator for policy.

“Thanks so much for taking the time to meet with us on Keystone XL yesterday,”she wrote. ”Let me know if I can be helpful in any way — particularly in further identifying those opportunities for EPA to engage that don’t involve ‘throwing your body across the tracks,’ as Michael put it.”

EELI senior legal fellow Chris Horner told Fox News that as a government agency, EPA couldn’t be seen as overtly trying to kill Keystone, but was reaching out to environmental groups for other ideas on how to do it.

“On its face,” Horner told Fox News, “it smacks of classic secret dealing and an uncomfortably close working relationship and one that is known to these parties, but quite plainly not advertised to the public.”

Barrasso was less diplomatic. “Despite the fact that Keystone XL has bipartisan support in Congress and from governors, environmental extremists inside and out of the administration are working behind closed doors to kill it,” he said.

Many EPA staffers — including Goo — came from the environmental movement. Goo, who is now at the Department of Energy’s policy shop, was with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Horner said many EPA staffers share a policy agenda with environmental groups, a common cause illuminated in the emails his group obtained.

“This series of correspondence plainly indicates that you’ve got an agency that’s made up its mind — working with allies with whom it is ideologically and substantively aligned on this — trying to find ways to advance their argument without being too obvious about it,” Horner told Fox News.

Emails previously obtained by Horner’s group reveal similar agenda-sharing regarding coal. There are dozens of exchanges on the just-released regulations regarding coal-fired power plants.

In one email, John Coequyt, head of Sierra’s “beyond coal” campaign, wrote to Goo and another EPA staffer in an apparent attempt to pressure EPA into adopting regulations so strict that coal plants that already received construction permits could not be built.

“Attached is a list of plants that the companies shelved because of uncertainty around GHG regulations. If a standard is set that these plants could meet, there is a not small chance that they (sic) company could decide to revive the proposal,” Coequyt wrote.

In another email to Goo and Alex Barron of EPA’s climate office, Coequyt responded comically to an August 2012 article that quoted now-EPA administrator Gina McCarthy as saying the new regulations would not kill coal.

“Pants on fire,” wrote Coequyt

Other communications arranged meetings between Goo and Coequyt at the Starbucks in the JW Marriott hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, close to the EPA — an attempt, charges Horner, to discuss issues without having to sign into the EPA building. And there are numerous requests from environmental groups to meet with EPA staffers.

There is also evidence, said Horner, that EPA officials sought to keep their deliberations with environmental groups out of the public record by using private email accounts and back-channel communications.

In one such exchange, James Martin, who was the EPA’s Region 8 administrator, exchanged ideas with the Sierra Club’s chief legal counsel Vickie Patton on where to hold public hearings on new coal regulations. Martin used a “.me” account instead of his official EPA server.

Martin resigned in February of 2013 in a storm of controversy over using personal email to conduct official communications.

Many of the emails provided to Fox News have been redacted. The EPA claimed they show the “deliberative process.” Now that the proposed regulations on coal have been published, Horner and the Energy and Environment Legal Institute plan to go to court to obtain unredacted versions.

John Roberts joined Fox News Channel (FNC) in January 2011 as a senior national correspondent and is based in the Atlanta bureau.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/01/22/emails-show-cozy-relationship-between-epa-environmental-groups-on-keystone-coal/

‘Secret dealing’? Emails show cozy relationship between EPA, environmental groups

Obama ‘hijacks’ tech executive meeting to make ‘PR pitch’ on Obamacare website fix instead of dealing with NSA surveillance

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Obama ‘hijacks’ tech executive meeting to make ‘PR pitch’ on Obamacare website fix instead of dealing with NSA surveillance

G&A Perspective: How NRA Members Are Dealing with the Ammo Shortage

No matter who you are or how well connected, there’s one unifying truth about the ammo shortage of 2013—it’s no respecter of persons.

That much was obvious at the recent NRA Show in Houston, where everyone from law enforcement officials to industry personnel—all the way down to your average man on the street—noted the incredible difficulty of procuring ammunition over the last few months. As Chad, an NRA member from Austin, Texas, said, you know times are rough when .22 ammo is missing from shelves.

“You can’t find .22 ammo anywhere,” Chad said. “I found a 525-round box at Academy [Sports & Outdoors] and thought I hit the lottery. That’s the first time I’ve seen it in probably six months.”

Like Chad, many NRA members have dealt with the ammo shortage by implementing a strategy of persistence—they simply keep checking back with their local sporting good outlet, gun shop or feed store, hoping to catch the latest shipment as it hits the shelves. For the people who claimed to have at least limited success finding ammo, this was undoubtedly the most common tactic.

Others, like Houston natives Ronald and Gale, said they’ve simply cut back on range time.

“It’s kept us off the range as much as we’d like to go,” Ronald said. “I’m afraid it’s going to put some of our good ranges—some mom and pop operations—out of business. Personally, this was coming for a long time. I’ve got enough to fend off a good attack, should I say. But like most good Boy Scouts, be prepared.”

As Ronald pointed out, there’s more than one way to deal with the shortage. You can either scavenge whatever is available when it’s available, you can stay away from the range or you can do both. The anecdotal evidence from NRA members at the show seems to point in this direction—gun owners are not only scraping together whatever ammo they can find, they’re also keeping more of it boxed up at home.

“Ammo is so hard to get, most of the people I know, when you do get it you don’t go to the range,” said Scott of Lufkin, Texas. “People that go to the range on a regular basis just aren’t going because you can’t afford to shoot the ammo and then not be able to replace it.”

Supply and Demand
The obvious question many people are asking is why the shortage happened in the first place. The answers aren’t always so obvious, but it starts with the political climate and the ongoing threat of anti-gun legislation. That threat—especially when it comes from the government—fuels an increase in demand for the buyer, who grabs and stashes as much ammo as he can.

Add an Associated Press report from Feb. 15 stating the Department of Homeland Security wants to buy up 1.6 billion rounds of ammo in the next few years—plus an ongoing discussion about it by the conspiracy theorists in the blogosphere—and you’ve got a veritable run on the market. Groups like the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) and the NRA, meanwhile, have called a government attempt to stockpile ammunition a farce, attributing shortages to a simple increase in demand driven by anti-gun politics. Either way, demand skyrockets.

Manufacturers like Hornady, which gets questioned all the time about why it doesn’t just amp up production, said it’s just not that simple.

“We’ve been steadily growing our production for a long time, especially the last five years,” Hornady said on its website. “We’ve added presses, lathes, CNC equipment, people and space. Many popular items are produced 24 hours a day. Several hundred Hornady employees work overtime every week to produce as much as safely possible. If there is any question about that—please take a tour of the factory. You’ll be amazed at what you see.”

The Silver Lining
There is a silver lining in all of this, though. First, a good portion of the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 was unceremoniously shot down on the Senate floor in the middle of April. With Feinstein’s incendiary measures out of the way, there’s at least some hope tensions will die down. With less for gun owners to fear, the expectation is for demand to settle down and production to play catch up. Many industry officials at the NRA show were at least optimistic about such a possibility, though nothing will likely change in the immediate future.

The ammo shortage has also caused a drastic increase in laser training sales, according to Aaron Moore, vice president and director of operations at LaserLyte.

“We’ve sold a whole lot more laser trainers,” Moore said. “We’ve been up about 700 percent in sales over last year.”

Adaptation may just be the key message for gun owners in America. It’s a different world than even a year ago, which means persistent shopping around and utilizing alternative methods of training are plausible options for many. It also means there’s never been a time to stand and defend your rights as an American and as a gun owner like the present. It’s a constant reminder of how quickly our precious freedoms can disappear if we don’t stand vigilant.

Guns & Ammo

G&A Perspective: How NRA Members Are Dealing with the Ammo Shortage

G&A Perspective: How NRA Members Are Dealing with the Ammo Shortage

No matter who you are or how well connected, there’s one unifying truth about the ammo shortage of 2013—it’s no respecter of persons.

That much was obvious at the recent NRA Show in Houston, where everyone from law enforcement officials to industry personnel—all the way down to your average man on the street—noted the incredible difficulty of procuring ammunition over the last few months. As Chad, an NRA member from Austin, Texas, said, you know times are rough when .22 ammo is missing from shelves.

“You can’t find .22 ammo anywhere,” Chad said. “I found a 525-round box at Academy [Sports & Outdoors] and thought I hit the lottery. That’s the first time I’ve seen it in probably six months.”

Like Chad, many NRA members have dealt with the ammo shortage by implementing a strategy of persistence—they simply keep checking back with their local sporting good outlet, gun shop or feed store, hoping to catch the latest shipment as it hits the shelves. For the people who claimed to have at least limited success finding ammo, this was undoubtedly the most common tactic.

Others, like Houston natives Ronald and Gale, said they’ve simply cut back on range time.

“It’s kept us off the range as much as we’d like to go,” Ronald said. “I’m afraid it’s going to put some of our good ranges—some mom and pop operations—out of business. Personally, this was coming for a long time. I’ve got enough to fend off a good attack, should I say. But like most good Boy Scouts, be prepared.”

As Ronald pointed out, there’s more than one way to deal with the shortage. You can either scavenge whatever is available when it’s available, you can stay away from the range or you can do both. The anecdotal evidence from NRA members at the show seems to point in this direction—gun owners are not only scraping together whatever ammo they can find, they’re also keeping more of it boxed up at home.

“Ammo is so hard to get, most of the people I know, when you do get it you don’t go to the range,” said Scott of Lufkin, Texas. “People that go to the range on a regular basis just aren’t going because you can’t afford to shoot the ammo and then not be able to replace it.”

Supply and Demand
The obvious question many people are asking is why the shortage happened in the first place. The answers aren’t always so obvious, but it starts with the political climate and the ongoing threat of anti-gun legislation. That threat—especially when it comes from the government—fuels an increase in demand for the buyer, who grabs and stashes as much ammo as he can.

Add an Associated Press report from Feb. 15 stating the Department of Homeland Security wants to buy up 1.6 billion rounds of ammo in the next few years—plus an ongoing discussion about it by the conspiracy theorists in the blogosphere—and you’ve got a veritable run on the market. Groups like the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) and the NRA, meanwhile, have called a government attempt to stockpile ammunition a farce, attributing shortages to a simple increase in demand driven by anti-gun politics. Either way, demand skyrockets.

Manufacturers like Hornady, which gets questioned all the time about why it doesn’t just amp up production, said it’s just not that simple.

“We’ve been steadily growing our production for a long time, especially the last five years,” Hornady said on its website. “We’ve added presses, lathes, CNC equipment, people and space. Many popular items are produced 24 hours a day. Several hundred Hornady employees work overtime every week to produce as much as safely possible. If there is any question about that—please take a tour of the factory. You’ll be amazed at what you see.”

The Silver Lining
There is a silver lining in all of this, though. First, a good portion of the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 was unceremoniously shot down on the Senate floor in the middle of April. With Feinstein’s incendiary measures out of the way, there’s at least some hope tensions will die down. With less for gun owners to fear, the expectation is for demand to settle down and production to play catch up. Many industry officials at the NRA show were at least optimistic about such a possibility, though nothing will likely change in the immediate future.

The ammo shortage has also caused a drastic increase in laser training sales, according to Aaron Moore, vice president and director of operations at LaserLyte.

“We’ve sold a whole lot more laser trainers,” Moore said. “We’ve been up about 700 percent in sales over last year.”

Adaptation may just be the key message for gun owners in America. It’s a different world than even a year ago, which means persistent shopping around and utilizing alternative methods of training are plausible options for many. It also means there’s never been a time to stand and defend your rights as an American and as a gun owner like the present. It’s a constant reminder of how quickly our precious freedoms can disappear if we don’t stand vigilant.

Guns & Ammo

G&A Perspective: How NRA Members Are Dealing with the Ammo Shortage

G&A Perspective: How NRA Members Are Dealing with the Ammo Shortage

No matter who you are or how well connected, there’s one unifying truth about the ammo shortage of 2013—it’s no respecter of persons.

That much was obvious at the recent NRA Show in Houston, where everyone from law enforcement officials to industry personnel—all the way down to your average man on the street—noted the incredible difficulty of procuring ammunition over the last few months. As Chad, an NRA member from Austin, Texas, said, you know times are rough when .22 ammo is missing from shelves.

“You can’t find .22 ammo anywhere,” Chad said. “I found a 525-round box at Academy [Sports & Outdoors] and thought I hit the lottery. That’s the first time I’ve seen it in probably six months.”

Like Chad, many NRA members have dealt with the ammo shortage by implementing a strategy of persistence—they simply keep checking back with their local sporting good outlet, gun shop or feed store, hoping to catch the latest shipment as it hits the shelves. For the people who claimed to have at least limited success finding ammo, this was undoubtedly the most common tactic.

Others, like Houston natives Ronald and Gale, said they’ve simply cut back on range time.

“It’s kept us off the range as much as we’d like to go,” Ronald said. “I’m afraid it’s going to put some of our good ranges—some mom and pop operations—out of business. Personally, this was coming for a long time. I’ve got enough to fend off a good attack, should I say. But like most good Boy Scouts, be prepared.”

As Ronald pointed out, there’s more than one way to deal with the shortage. You can either scavenge whatever is available when it’s available, you can stay away from the range or you can do both. The anecdotal evidence from NRA members at the show seems to point in this direction—gun owners are not only scraping together whatever ammo they can find, they’re also keeping more of it boxed up at home.

“Ammo is so hard to get, most of the people I know, when you do get it you don’t go to the range,” said Scott of Lufkin, Texas. “People that go to the range on a regular basis just aren’t going because you can’t afford to shoot the ammo and then not be able to replace it.”

Supply and Demand
The obvious question many people are asking is why the shortage happened in the first place. The answers aren’t always so obvious, but it starts with the political climate and the ongoing threat of anti-gun legislation. That threat—especially when it comes from the government—fuels an increase in demand for the buyer, who grabs and stashes as much ammo as he can.

Add an Associated Press report from Feb. 15 stating the Department of Homeland Security wants to buy up 1.6 billion rounds of ammo in the next few years—plus an ongoing discussion about it by the conspiracy theorists in the blogosphere—and you’ve got a veritable run on the market. Groups like the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) and the NRA, meanwhile, have called a government attempt to stockpile ammunition a farce, attributing shortages to a simple increase in demand driven by anti-gun politics. Either way, demand skyrockets.

Manufacturers like Hornady, which gets questioned all the time about why it doesn’t just amp up production, said it’s just not that simple.

“We’ve been steadily growing our production for a long time, especially the last five years,” Hornady said on its website. “We’ve added presses, lathes, CNC equipment, people and space. Many popular items are produced 24 hours a day. Several hundred Hornady employees work overtime every week to produce as much as safely possible. If there is any question about that—please take a tour of the factory. You’ll be amazed at what you see.”

The Silver Lining
There is a silver lining in all of this, though. First, a good portion of the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 was unceremoniously shot down on the Senate floor in the middle of April. With Feinstein’s incendiary measures out of the way, there’s at least some hope tensions will die down. With less for gun owners to fear, the expectation is for demand to settle down and production to play catch up. Many industry officials at the NRA show were at least optimistic about such a possibility, though nothing will likely change in the immediate future.

The ammo shortage has also caused a drastic increase in laser training sales, according to Aaron Moore, vice president and director of operations at LaserLyte.

“We’ve sold a whole lot more laser trainers,” Moore said. “We’ve been up about 700 percent in sales over last year.”

Adaptation may just be the key message for gun owners in America. It’s a different world than even a year ago, which means persistent shopping around and utilizing alternative methods of training are plausible options for many. It also means there’s never been a time to stand and defend your rights as an American and as a gun owner like the present. It’s a constant reminder of how quickly our precious freedoms can disappear if we don’t stand vigilant.

Guns & Ammo

G&A Perspective: How NRA Members Are Dealing with the Ammo Shortage

G&A Perspective: How NRA Members Are Dealing with the Ammo Shortage

No matter who you are or how well connected, there’s one unifying truth about the ammo shortage of 2013—it’s no respecter of persons.

That much was obvious at the recent NRA Show in Houston, where everyone from law enforcement officials to industry personnel—all the way down to your average man on the street—noted the incredible difficulty of procuring ammunition over the last few months. As Chad, an NRA member from Austin, Texas, said, you know times are rough when .22 ammo is missing from shelves.

“You can’t find .22 ammo anywhere,” Chad said. “I found a 525-round box at Academy [Sports & Outdoors] and thought I hit the lottery. That’s the first time I’ve seen it in probably six months.”

Like Chad, many NRA members have dealt with the ammo shortage by implementing a strategy of persistence—they simply keep checking back with their local sporting good outlet, gun shop or feed store, hoping to catch the latest shipment as it hits the shelves. For the people who claimed to have at least limited success finding ammo, this was undoubtedly the most common tactic.

Others, like Houston natives Ronald and Gale, said they’ve simply cut back on range time.

“It’s kept us off the range as much as we’d like to go,” Ronald said. “I’m afraid it’s going to put some of our good ranges—some mom and pop operations—out of business. Personally, this was coming for a long time. I’ve got enough to fend off a good attack, should I say. But like most good Boy Scouts, be prepared.”

As Ronald pointed out, there’s more than one way to deal with the shortage. You can either scavenge whatever is available when it’s available, you can stay away from the range or you can do both. The anecdotal evidence from NRA members at the show seems to point in this direction—gun owners are not only scraping together whatever ammo they can find, they’re also keeping more of it boxed up at home.

“Ammo is so hard to get, most of the people I know, when you do get it you don’t go to the range,” said Scott of Lufkin, Texas. “People that go to the range on a regular basis just aren’t going because you can’t afford to shoot the ammo and then not be able to replace it.”

Supply and Demand
The obvious question many people are asking is why the shortage happened in the first place. The answers aren’t always so obvious, but it starts with the political climate and the ongoing threat of anti-gun legislation. That threat—especially when it comes from the government—fuels an increase in demand for the buyer, who grabs and stashes as much ammo as he can.

Add an Associated Press report from Feb. 15 stating the Department of Homeland Security wants to buy up 1.6 billion rounds of ammo in the next few years—plus an ongoing discussion about it by the conspiracy theorists in the blogosphere—and you’ve got a veritable run on the market. Groups like the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) and the NRA, meanwhile, have called a government attempt to stockpile ammunition a farce, attributing shortages to a simple increase in demand driven by anti-gun politics. Either way, demand skyrockets.

Manufacturers like Hornady, which gets questioned all the time about why it doesn’t just amp up production, said it’s just not that simple.

“We’ve been steadily growing our production for a long time, especially the last five years,” Hornady said on its website. “We’ve added presses, lathes, CNC equipment, people and space. Many popular items are produced 24 hours a day. Several hundred Hornady employees work overtime every week to produce as much as safely possible. If there is any question about that—please take a tour of the factory. You’ll be amazed at what you see.”

The Silver Lining
There is a silver lining in all of this, though. First, a good portion of the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 was unceremoniously shot down on the Senate floor in the middle of April. With Feinstein’s incendiary measures out of the way, there’s at least some hope tensions will die down. With less for gun owners to fear, the expectation is for demand to settle down and production to play catch up. Many industry officials at the NRA show were at least optimistic about such a possibility, though nothing will likely change in the immediate future.

The ammo shortage has also caused a drastic increase in laser training sales, according to Aaron Moore, vice president and director of operations at LaserLyte.

“We’ve sold a whole lot more laser trainers,” Moore said. “We’ve been up about 700 percent in sales over last year.”

Adaptation may just be the key message for gun owners in America. It’s a different world than even a year ago, which means persistent shopping around and utilizing alternative methods of training are plausible options for many. It also means there’s never been a time to stand and defend your rights as an American and as a gun owner like the present. It’s a constant reminder of how quickly our precious freedoms can disappear if we don’t stand vigilant.

Guns & Ammo

G&A Perspective: How NRA Members Are Dealing with the Ammo Shortage

G&A Perspective: How NRA Members Are Dealing with the Ammo Shortage

No matter who you are or how well connected, there’s one unifying truth about the ammo shortage of 2013—it’s no respecter of persons.

That much was obvious at the recent NRA Show in Houston, where everyone from law enforcement officials to industry personnel—all the way down to your average man on the street—noted the incredible difficulty of procuring ammunition over the last few months. As Chad, an NRA member from Austin, Texas, said, you know times are rough when .22 ammo is missing from shelves.

“You can’t find .22 ammo anywhere,” Chad said. “I found a 525-round box at Academy [Sports & Outdoors] and thought I hit the lottery. That’s the first time I’ve seen it in probably six months.”

Like Chad, many NRA members have dealt with the ammo shortage by implementing a strategy of persistence—they simply keep checking back with their local sporting good outlet, gun shop or feed store, hoping to catch the latest shipment as it hits the shelves. For the people who claimed to have at least limited success finding ammo, this was undoubtedly the most common tactic.

Others, like Houston natives Ronald and Gale, said they’ve simply cut back on range time.

“It’s kept us off the range as much as we’d like to go,” Ronald said. “I’m afraid it’s going to put some of our good ranges—some mom and pop operations—out of business. Personally, this was coming for a long time. I’ve got enough to fend off a good attack, should I say. But like most good Boy Scouts, be prepared.”

As Ronald pointed out, there’s more than one way to deal with the shortage. You can either scavenge whatever is available when it’s available, you can stay away from the range or you can do both. The anecdotal evidence from NRA members at the show seems to point in this direction—gun owners are not only scraping together whatever ammo they can find, they’re also keeping more of it boxed up at home.

“Ammo is so hard to get, most of the people I know, when you do get it you don’t go to the range,” said Scott of Lufkin, Texas. “People that go to the range on a regular basis just aren’t going because you can’t afford to shoot the ammo and then not be able to replace it.”

Supply and Demand
The obvious question many people are asking is why the shortage happened in the first place. The answers aren’t always so obvious, but it starts with the political climate and the ongoing threat of anti-gun legislation. That threat—especially when it comes from the government—fuels an increase in demand for the buyer, who grabs and stashes as much ammo as he can.

Add an Associated Press report from Feb. 15 stating the Department of Homeland Security wants to buy up 1.6 billion rounds of ammo in the next few years—plus an ongoing discussion about it by the conspiracy theorists in the blogosphere—and you’ve got a veritable run on the market. Groups like the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) and the NRA, meanwhile, have called a government attempt to stockpile ammunition a farce, attributing shortages to a simple increase in demand driven by anti-gun politics. Either way, demand skyrockets.

Manufacturers like Hornady, which gets questioned all the time about why it doesn’t just amp up production, said it’s just not that simple.

“We’ve been steadily growing our production for a long time, especially the last five years,” Hornady said on its website. “We’ve added presses, lathes, CNC equipment, people and space. Many popular items are produced 24 hours a day. Several hundred Hornady employees work overtime every week to produce as much as safely possible. If there is any question about that—please take a tour of the factory. You’ll be amazed at what you see.”

The Silver Lining
There is a silver lining in all of this, though. First, a good portion of the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 was unceremoniously shot down on the Senate floor in the middle of April. With Feinstein’s incendiary measures out of the way, there’s at least some hope tensions will die down. With less for gun owners to fear, the expectation is for demand to settle down and production to play catch up. Many industry officials at the NRA show were at least optimistic about such a possibility, though nothing will likely change in the immediate future.

The ammo shortage has also caused a drastic increase in laser training sales, according to Aaron Moore, vice president and director of operations at LaserLyte.

“We’ve sold a whole lot more laser trainers,” Moore said. “We’ve been up about 700 percent in sales over last year.”

Adaptation may just be the key message for gun owners in America. It’s a different world than even a year ago, which means persistent shopping around and utilizing alternative methods of training are plausible options for many. It also means there’s never been a time to stand and defend your rights as an American and as a gun owner like the present. It’s a constant reminder of how quickly our precious freedoms can disappear if we don’t stand vigilant.

Guns & Ammo

G&A Perspective: How NRA Members Are Dealing with the Ammo Shortage

G&A Perspective: How NRA Members Are Dealing with the Ammo Shortage

No matter who you are or how well connected, there’s one unifying truth about the ammo shortage of 2013—it’s no respecter of persons.

That much was obvious at the recent NRA Show in Houston, where everyone from law enforcement officials to industry personnel—all the way down to your average man on the street—noted the incredible difficulty of procuring ammunition over the last few months. As Chad, an NRA member from Austin, Texas, said, you know times are rough when .22 ammo is missing from shelves.

“You can’t find .22 ammo anywhere,” Chad said. “I found a 525-round box at Academy [Sports & Outdoors] and thought I hit the lottery. That’s the first time I’ve seen it in probably six months.”

Like Chad, many NRA members have dealt with the ammo shortage by implementing a strategy of persistence—they simply keep checking back with their local sporting good outlet, gun shop or feed store, hoping to catch the latest shipment as it hits the shelves. For the people who claimed to have at least limited success finding ammo, this was undoubtedly the most common tactic.

Others, like Houston natives Ronald and Gale, said they’ve simply cut back on range time.

“It’s kept us off the range as much as we’d like to go,” Ronald said. “I’m afraid it’s going to put some of our good ranges—some mom and pop operations—out of business. Personally, this was coming for a long time. I’ve got enough to fend off a good attack, should I say. But like most good Boy Scouts, be prepared.”

As Ronald pointed out, there’s more than one way to deal with the shortage. You can either scavenge whatever is available when it’s available, you can stay away from the range or you can do both. The anecdotal evidence from NRA members at the show seems to point in this direction—gun owners are not only scraping together whatever ammo they can find, they’re also keeping more of it boxed up at home.

“Ammo is so hard to get, most of the people I know, when you do get it you don’t go to the range,” said Scott of Lufkin, Texas. “People that go to the range on a regular basis just aren’t going because you can’t afford to shoot the ammo and then not be able to replace it.”

Supply and Demand
The obvious question many people are asking is why the shortage happened in the first place. The answers aren’t always so obvious, but it starts with the political climate and the ongoing threat of anti-gun legislation. That threat—especially when it comes from the government—fuels an increase in demand for the buyer, who grabs and stashes as much ammo as he can.

Add an Associated Press report from Feb. 15 stating the Department of Homeland Security wants to buy up 1.6 billion rounds of ammo in the next few years—plus an ongoing discussion about it by the conspiracy theorists in the blogosphere—and you’ve got a veritable run on the market. Groups like the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) and the NRA, meanwhile, have called a government attempt to stockpile ammunition a farce, attributing shortages to a simple increase in demand driven by anti-gun politics. Either way, demand skyrockets.

Manufacturers like Hornady, which gets questioned all the time about why it doesn’t just amp up production, said it’s just not that simple.

“We’ve been steadily growing our production for a long time, especially the last five years,” Hornady said on its website. “We’ve added presses, lathes, CNC equipment, people and space. Many popular items are produced 24 hours a day. Several hundred Hornady employees work overtime every week to produce as much as safely possible. If there is any question about that—please take a tour of the factory. You’ll be amazed at what you see.”

The Silver Lining
There is a silver lining in all of this, though. First, a good portion of the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 was unceremoniously shot down on the Senate floor in the middle of April. With Feinstein’s incendiary measures out of the way, there’s at least some hope tensions will die down. With less for gun owners to fear, the expectation is for demand to settle down and production to play catch up. Many industry officials at the NRA show were at least optimistic about such a possibility, though nothing will likely change in the immediate future.

The ammo shortage has also caused a drastic increase in laser training sales, according to Aaron Moore, vice president and director of operations at LaserLyte.

“We’ve sold a whole lot more laser trainers,” Moore said. “We’ve been up about 700 percent in sales over last year.”

Adaptation may just be the key message for gun owners in America. It’s a different world than even a year ago, which means persistent shopping around and utilizing alternative methods of training are plausible options for many. It also means there’s never been a time to stand and defend your rights as an American and as a gun owner like the present. It’s a constant reminder of how quickly our precious freedoms can disappear if we don’t stand vigilant.

Guns & Ammo

G&A Perspective: How NRA Members Are Dealing with the Ammo Shortage

G&A Perspective: How NRA Members Are Dealing with the Ammo Shortage

No matter who you are or how well connected, there’s one unifying truth about the ammo shortage of 2013—it’s no respecter of persons.

That much was obvious at the recent NRA Show in Houston, where everyone from law enforcement officials to industry personnel—all the way down to your average man on the street—noted the incredible difficulty of procuring ammunition over the last few months. As Chad, an NRA member from Austin, Texas, said, you know times are rough when .22 ammo is missing from shelves.

“You can’t find .22 ammo anywhere,” Chad said. “I found a 525-round box at Academy [Sports & Outdoors] and thought I hit the lottery. That’s the first time I’ve seen it in probably six months.”

Like Chad, many NRA members have dealt with the ammo shortage by implementing a strategy of persistence—they simply keep checking back with their local sporting good outlet, gun shop or feed store, hoping to catch the latest shipment as it hits the shelves. For the people who claimed to have at least limited success finding ammo, this was undoubtedly the most common tactic.

Others, like Houston natives Ronald and Gale, said they’ve simply cut back on range time.

“It’s kept us off the range as much as we’d like to go,” Ronald said. “I’m afraid it’s going to put some of our good ranges—some mom and pop operations—out of business. Personally, this was coming for a long time. I’ve got enough to fend off a good attack, should I say. But like most good Boy Scouts, be prepared.”

As Ronald pointed out, there’s more than one way to deal with the shortage. You can either scavenge whatever is available when it’s available, you can stay away from the range or you can do both. The anecdotal evidence from NRA members at the show seems to point in this direction—gun owners are not only scraping together whatever ammo they can find, they’re also keeping more of it boxed up at home.

“Ammo is so hard to get, most of the people I know, when you do get it you don’t go to the range,” said Scott of Lufkin, Texas. “People that go to the range on a regular basis just aren’t going because you can’t afford to shoot the ammo and then not be able to replace it.”

Supply and Demand
The obvious question many people are asking is why the shortage happened in the first place. The answers aren’t always so obvious, but it starts with the political climate and the ongoing threat of anti-gun legislation. That threat—especially when it comes from the government—fuels an increase in demand for the buyer, who grabs and stashes as much ammo as he can.

Add an Associated Press report from Feb. 15 stating the Department of Homeland Security wants to buy up 1.6 billion rounds of ammo in the next few years—plus an ongoing discussion about it by the conspiracy theorists in the blogosphere—and you’ve got a veritable run on the market. Groups like the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) and the NRA, meanwhile, have called a government attempt to stockpile ammunition a farce, attributing shortages to a simple increase in demand driven by anti-gun politics. Either way, demand skyrockets.

Manufacturers like Hornady, which gets questioned all the time about why it doesn’t just amp up production, said it’s just not that simple.

“We’ve been steadily growing our production for a long time, especially the last five years,” Hornady said on its website. “We’ve added presses, lathes, CNC equipment, people and space. Many popular items are produced 24 hours a day. Several hundred Hornady employees work overtime every week to produce as much as safely possible. If there is any question about that—please take a tour of the factory. You’ll be amazed at what you see.”

The Silver Lining
There is a silver lining in all of this, though. First, a good portion of the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 was unceremoniously shot down on the Senate floor in the middle of April. With Feinstein’s incendiary measures out of the way, there’s at least some hope tensions will die down. With less for gun owners to fear, the expectation is for demand to settle down and production to play catch up. Many industry officials at the NRA show were at least optimistic about such a possibility, though nothing will likely change in the immediate future.

The ammo shortage has also caused a drastic increase in laser training sales, according to Aaron Moore, vice president and director of operations at LaserLyte.

“We’ve sold a whole lot more laser trainers,” Moore said. “We’ve been up about 700 percent in sales over last year.”

Adaptation may just be the key message for gun owners in America. It’s a different world than even a year ago, which means persistent shopping around and utilizing alternative methods of training are plausible options for many. It also means there’s never been a time to stand and defend your rights as an American and as a gun owner like the present. It’s a constant reminder of how quickly our precious freedoms can disappear if we don’t stand vigilant.

Guns & Ammo

G&A Perspective: How NRA Members Are Dealing with the Ammo Shortage

G&A Perspective: How NRA Members Are Dealing with the Ammo Shortage

No matter who you are or how well connected, there’s one unifying truth about the ammo shortage of 2013—it’s no respecter of persons.

That much was obvious at the recent NRA Show in Houston, where everyone from law enforcement officials to industry personnel—all the way down to your average man on the street—noted the incredible difficulty of procuring ammunition over the last few months. As Chad, an NRA member from Austin, Texas, said, you know times are rough when .22 ammo is missing from shelves.

“You can’t find .22 ammo anywhere,” Chad said. “I found a 525-round box at Academy [Sports & Outdoors] and thought I hit the lottery. That’s the first time I’ve seen it in probably six months.”

Like Chad, many NRA members have dealt with the ammo shortage by implementing a strategy of persistence—they simply keep checking back with their local sporting good outlet, gun shop or feed store, hoping to catch the latest shipment as it hits the shelves. For the people who claimed to have at least limited success finding ammo, this was undoubtedly the most common tactic.

Others, like Houston natives Ronald and Gale, said they’ve simply cut back on range time.

“It’s kept us off the range as much as we’d like to go,” Ronald said. “I’m afraid it’s going to put some of our good ranges—some mom and pop operations—out of business. Personally, this was coming for a long time. I’ve got enough to fend off a good attack, should I say. But like most good Boy Scouts, be prepared.”

As Ronald pointed out, there’s more than one way to deal with the shortage. You can either scavenge whatever is available when it’s available, you can stay away from the range or you can do both. The anecdotal evidence from NRA members at the show seems to point in this direction—gun owners are not only scraping together whatever ammo they can find, they’re also keeping more of it boxed up at home.

“Ammo is so hard to get, most of the people I know, when you do get it you don’t go to the range,” said Scott of Lufkin, Texas. “People that go to the range on a regular basis just aren’t going because you can’t afford to shoot the ammo and then not be able to replace it.”

Supply and Demand
The obvious question many people are asking is why the shortage happened in the first place. The answers aren’t always so obvious, but it starts with the political climate and the ongoing threat of anti-gun legislation. That threat—especially when it comes from the government—fuels an increase in demand for the buyer, who grabs and stashes as much ammo as he can.

Add an Associated Press report from Feb. 15 stating the Department of Homeland Security wants to buy up 1.6 billion rounds of ammo in the next few years—plus an ongoing discussion about it by the conspiracy theorists in the blogosphere—and you’ve got a veritable run on the market. Groups like the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) and the NRA, meanwhile, have called a government attempt to stockpile ammunition a farce, attributing shortages to a simple increase in demand driven by anti-gun politics. Either way, demand skyrockets.

Manufacturers like Hornady, which gets questioned all the time about why it doesn’t just amp up production, said it’s just not that simple.

“We’ve been steadily growing our production for a long time, especially the last five years,” Hornady said on its website. “We’ve added presses, lathes, CNC equipment, people and space. Many popular items are produced 24 hours a day. Several hundred Hornady employees work overtime every week to produce as much as safely possible. If there is any question about that—please take a tour of the factory. You’ll be amazed at what you see.”

The Silver Lining
There is a silver lining in all of this, though. First, a good portion of the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 was unceremoniously shot down on the Senate floor in the middle of April. With Feinstein’s incendiary measures out of the way, there’s at least some hope tensions will die down. With less for gun owners to fear, the expectation is for demand to settle down and production to play catch up. Many industry officials at the NRA show were at least optimistic about such a possibility, though nothing will likely change in the immediate future.

The ammo shortage has also caused a drastic increase in laser training sales, according to Aaron Moore, vice president and director of operations at LaserLyte.

“We’ve sold a whole lot more laser trainers,” Moore said. “We’ve been up about 700 percent in sales over last year.”

Adaptation may just be the key message for gun owners in America. It’s a different world than even a year ago, which means persistent shopping around and utilizing alternative methods of training are plausible options for many. It also means there’s never been a time to stand and defend your rights as an American and as a gun owner like the present. It’s a constant reminder of how quickly our precious freedoms can disappear if we don’t stand vigilant.

Guns & Ammo

G&A Perspective: How NRA Members Are Dealing with the Ammo Shortage