UPDATE!
Okay here is an update given by another poster from the original site where I
first got this story.
AGAIN, no sources or concrete links just another piece to the overall puzzle.
Is Wal-Mart's Shortage of Ammunition for Real? (A Personal Investigation)
Me ^ | 1/19/09 | OB1kNOb
Posted on January 19, 2009 12
17 PM EST by OB1kNOb
A week or so ago I read in a FReeper thread where someone made the claim that Wal-Mart was running out of ammunition and apparently lacked the resources to restock it quickly. I thought to myself, surely this can't be true. Afterall, Wal-Mart is huge enough to have access to unlimited supply to anything they choose to sell. I mean, they are Wal-Mart.
So, this past weekend I decided to conduct my own investigation into this claim. On my way home from work Friday evening I stopped by three Wal-Mart's and visited their Sporting Goods (SG) department to buy some 9mm shells.
The first store I visited I made a bee-line for their SG dept. What I saw of their ammunition shelf behind the SG counter reminded me of the bread and milk aisles a day before a predicted snowstorm. Except for a few specialty shells it was basically bare. I was wanting to buy a box of 100 9mm shells, but all they had was one box of 50. That's strange, I thought, but surely one of the other two stores I planned to visit would have what I wanted in stock, so I preceded to the 2nd Wal-Mart store just a few short miles down the Interstate.
When I walked up to the 2nd SG dept. counter a young lady was there. I made a quick scan of the ammunition shelf behind the counter. It was the same as the first, pretty much empty. I asked the young lady if they would have a new shipment of 9mm shells in anytime soon. She shook her head and said "No, in fact the warehouse that supplies us told us to quit calling them and asking when they would have anymore ammunition to deliver."
Whoa! That response somewhat surprised me. Surely though my local store in a smaller town would still have what wanted. Au contraire. When I walked up to my local store's SG counter, I didn't even bother asking the clerk if they had what I was looking for. Their ammunition counter was emptier than the first two I visited.
By the time I got home, I decided that Saturday morning I would visit a couple more Wal-Mart stores in a neighboring city 20 miles away. The next day the 4th Wal-Mart I visited was the same - very little on the shelves, and no 9mm's. By now I was wishing I had bought the one box of 50 I had seen at the first store.
I decided before I visited the last Wal-Mart across town, I would make a visit to the local gun store where I recently purchased my pistol. Surely, they would have an ample supply of shells, and I could put my growing angst to rest.
Fat chance. Their ammunition shelves looked like Wal-Mart's. They had one box of 9mm's remaining which I quickly bought. I asked the owner if he would be getting anymore in soon, and he said, he would make a note to order more Monday. Hmmm. That's a strange response I thought. I figured he would have a better handle on his dwindling supplies and would already have made a new order, that is if he could get more supply.
I then went to the 5th and last Wal-Mart on my personal investigative tour. Ammunition shelves were the same as the previous stores, practically empty, but LO! What do I spy but two lonely boxes of 50 9mm shells sitting by themselves. I quickly pointed to them and told the clerk I wanted to purchase them. As he was ringing be up he said, "You're lucky. We just got these in today.".
So, it appears the rumors are true and that Wal-Mart is experiencing a shortage of ammo. and it appears this shortage extends beyond Wal-Mart and is affecting local gun stores as well. At least in my neck of the woods that's true.