Henrietta, N.Y. — If you’re looking for ammunition for a common or popular gun, you may be out luck. Local gun retailers are running low on ammo.
“At this point you have to buy anything you can get your hands on,” said Kordell Jackson of Jackson Gun and Ammo. “A lot of people are going to the big box stores and they can't get any ammunition. They are going to the smaller shops thinking there are a few here and there. There is nothing.”
After New York state legislators passed a new gun control law, Jackson says bullets have been flying off the shelves.
“After the scare of what Governor Cuomo has done, I think people just rushed out and bought more and more of the supplies they were looking for,” Jackson explained.
Over in East Rochester at American Sportsman, Fred Calcaglo says he is also running low on ammunition. He says gun owners are in a rush to buy them before the new law fully takes affect next year.
“Starting a year from now, there will be background checks calling into New York state on any purchase of ammo, even one box which is kind of silly,” Calcaglo explained.
Cacaglo says that if he were to call a supplier right now, out of the thousands of brands and varieties they carry, the supplier would only have about few in stock.
Jackson says he’s seeing a large shortage of 9mm, 40mm and 45mm rounds. He uses about 28 different suppliers to stock his store and only a handful of boxes of these rounds are available.
Jackson also owns a security training facility and he says the ammo shortage has affected people who want train to be a guard or go into law enforcement.
“Even security doesn't have the ammo it needs to do the training that’s required by New York state,” Jackson explained. “They don't have the ammo they need to qualify and re-qualify. There are classes every week for training and there is not enough ammo.”
At some stores, the lack of supply and increased demand has upped the prices for some ammo. Jackson and Cacaglo both say they won’t raise prices until their suppliers and manufacturers do.
Meanwhile, they are waiting and hoping the supplies are replenished soon.
“[The suppliers] are saying ‘Good luck’,” Jackson said. “It’s going to be a while and right now there is a shortage. They can’t meet the demands right now, so everyone is at a stand still.”
