Armed American Radio ‘Round Table’ addresses price-gouging on guns and more GUN RIGH

gejoslin

Illegitimi non carborundu
I feel that a lot of gun shops are price gouging. How do you guys and gals feel about it?

Armed American Radio ‘Round Table’ addresses price-gouging on guns and more

Several readers have approached me in recent days concerned about the Link Removed some retailers are placing on popular semi-automatic rifles and magazines now that gun owners anticipating post-Newtown gun bans are engaging in a nationwide buying frenzy. In a related phenomenon, others have inquired about their options now that Link Removed.
While some gun owners dismiss soaring prices as simply the supply and demand effects of a free marketplace, others consider opportunistic price increases as gouging and have expressed resentment at those establishments engaging in it. And some gun owners feeling cheated by the sudden ****’s decision are contemplating a Link Removed.
Both of these developments were part of Link Removed with host Mark Walters, where Link Removed Examiner had a chance to raise the issues with George Hill, nationally-recognized firearms instructor and expert, and pioneering gun blogger at MadOgre.com.
“I work for a local ‘Mom and Pop’ store,” Hill explained. “We’re a small town. We can’t afford to have the reputation that we’re gouging anybody.
“We’ve had to take another tack,” he explained, “which is limit ammo sales to a handful of boxes at a time, just a couple of magazines at a time and things like that. We’ve also had to create a waiting list for AR-15-type guns, which are the most popular. As they come in, people first on the list get called first.
“They may be making short-term gains, but people are going to remember for the long term,” Hill observed about retailers “spiking” items because they can. “That type of kneejerk reaction is going to cost them dearly down the road.”
As for the situation at D I C K’s, Hill acknowledged “that was a great deal” with “special exclusive pricing.
“Even if D I C K’s gives everybody their money back, that’s not going to get them another AR-15 from anybody,” he said. “Because of D I C K’s refusal to transfer these guns per their agreement … these guys are basically left holding the bag. There’s nothing they’re going to be able to do except maybe some class action lawsuit.”
Jim Irvine of Buckeye Firearms Association then joined the discussion to talk about his organization’s Armed Teacher Training Program. The entire third hour segment can be heard at the ‘Armed American Radio’ website, along with the first two hours, featuring, Neil McCabe of Human Events.com and Guns and Patriots, economist John Lott, author of “Link Removed,” and Larry Pratt of Link Removed, also archived for convenient listening.
One observation made on last night’s program that I believe bears repeating is a real-world example of how “Link Removed” come back to bite us all: Were more gun owners involved in protecting the right to keep and bear arms to reflect our substantial numbers rather than a mere fraction of them, we would not need to be having this discussion, because politically, our rights would be secure. Were memberships in pro-gun organizations or measured in tens of millions of supporters, there would be no need for panic buying, because political threats would be dead on arrival. Had the majority of gun owners spent the last several years ponying up tens of dollars toward memberships or Link Removed, they would not now be faced with the prospect of spending extra hundreds or more, assuming the racks, counters and shelves haven’t already been emptied of all the good stuff.
Perhaps the latest anti-gun firestorm will bring more into the fold in 2013. If you’re not already involved beyond being a consumer -- of merchandise, of information, of whatever -- Link Removed.
Listen to last night’s “Link Removed” program:Link Removed

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Oh, I agree! It's just too damn sad that they're willingly bleeding their customer base to the point there will not be any customers left to bleed.
 
Class action lawsuit? Figure the odds on that ever getting anything done, except for lining the pockets of some attorneys, that is.
Best way to get anything done is to take your business elsewhere.
 
In a purely capitalist system, where supply and demand drive pricing, there is no such thing as "gouging." We're witnessing a perfect storm of limited supply and outright panicked demand. If manufacturers can't supply distributors, and distributors can't supply dealers, what do you expect to happen with prices for the stock they have on hand that will cost double or triple to replace once they sell it, if they can replace it at all?

Back in 1992 we escaped LA a month after the Rodney King riots quieted down. We were flush with cash due to both of our mothers passing away within a couple of months of each other, each of them leaving us enough to build upon, and we intended to open a business here in Alabama when we got here. Murphy's Law being what it is, it took us until the following year to get it off the ground, but while we were working towards that end, another opportunity presented itself. His name was Hurricane Andrew, and South Florida had ample warning that he was coming. Everything sold out fully five days before he hit the mainland, from water and bread to plywood and generators to everything in between. Well, I had cash laying around waiting to be put to work for us, and I also had a CDL, so I rented a rig with a 40' van trailer, bought out Grainger's, Home Depot and Lowe's of all the plywood, generators, batteries, flashlights, axes, chainsaws, cases and cases of nails and wood screws I could squeeze in the rig, and headed for the Homestead area when the storm was still four days out.

16 hours later, I pulled into Homestead and contacted the Chamber of Commerce. Told 'em what my load consisted of and they gave me a list of 50 merchants, and then told me to call 'em back for more if I didn't sell out by contacting those first 50. The Chamber also offered their parking lot so I didn't have to run all over creation trying to hawk the gear. The town was desperate for materials. They were waiving all licenses and permits so that houses could be boarded up and possibly saved, and many were because "hotshot" independent truckers and entrepreneurs like me had the foresight and courage to risk their capital and get the stuff down there.

I doubled my money by selling only to retailers who would likely double their money too. And why the heck not? People's homes were saved. People who would soon be without power for perhaps weeks, got generators so they could keep their refrigerators going to keep what little food they had from spoiling. People who would be in the dark for most of those same weeks had flashlights and plenty of batteries. Of course, that's if they could afford it, but being able to afford it is a requirement all the way up the distribution chain. The manufacturer, distributors, dealers and end-users all have to be able to afford "it." People who had three extra days and the materials to do so, were thrilled to put those materials to good use, even if the gear was at highly-inflated prices. Supply and demand, baby. It's the American Way.

There's no such thing as gouging in an unstable market for whatever reason it might be unstable. Well, let me rephrase that. There should be no such thing as gouging, but since that 48 - 50-hour marathon run to Homestead in '92, FL has passed very restrictive anti-gouging laws. It's literally unAmerican. Why the heck should supply and demand not control pricing in an emergency situation just like it ostensibly does during "regular" market conditions? There ought to be a law against such a law. I'll guarantee I wouldn't make another such trip in a price-controlled environment, and nobody I know who's in business to turn a profit would either. So price-controls stifle availability of much-needed merchandise in a disaster area, or like now, in a nationwide panic-buying situation. Price controls certainly don't enhance availability, and that's the real disaster, when governments lose their freakin' minds in response to unforeseeable market forces driving prices higher than "normal." But if the market will bear the asking prices, then that is the natural "normal" price!

And in any case, as it regards this gun and related items situation, anyone who's panic buying right now hasn't been paying attention for the last ...oh...say, 100 freakin' years! While they're shaking off the cobwebs and waking up to the political realities they're living under, maybe they'll wake up to the market realities at the same time. If not, I don't care. When I sell anything, whether in business or a private sale, I ask whatever the market will bear. I'd be stupid to do otherwise, and fewer people would even have access to whatever I'm selling if I didn't do that, because if there's not enough profit in it for me, I'm not risking my life's inheritance or savings to even go down there at all.

And finally, the more an entrepreneur makes in business, the more charitable work they can do in their private lives and in their own communities. It's a win/win for everybody, but especially for the most needy among us, both in the disaster area with completely depleted resources, and back at home when we can better afford to help our own communities. One man's gouging is another man's way of giving. Think about it.

Blues
 
Every weapon of military utility designed within the past 100+ years was gone.

This isn’t a society stocking up on certain guns because they fear they may be banned. This is a society preparing for war.
 

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