In this column, I’m going to try to give you true insiders into the hunting and shooting industry. No fluff or sugar-coating, just a point of view from someone who truly hunts, fishes, and shoots and isn’t getting paid to say nice things about okay products. If you spend enough time in your local gun shop or sporting goods store you probably have a favorite person behind the counter that you truly believe their option and know it’s not a sales scheme. Growing up my dad would drag me to few different shops around the area. Most of the time he either knew the owner or the guy who was always behind the counter, as I got older I understood the value of having someone else option that is deep knowledge. This is what I’m hoping to bring to the table. I have to bring something, and it’s not going to be a case of ammo.
In fact, that’s a good place to kick off my first piece here at Bearing Arms; has the price of ammunition really gone up this much over the last year? I can’t speak for all the other shops, just what I see in the one I work at. Currently as I write this I’m looking online at 9mm and 5.56. Last year at this time 9mm was about 20 cents per round. Depending on the 5.56 round, it was running around 45 cents per round. Right now those same boxes are going for between $1-1.50 a round. Everyone thinks that because demand jumped through the roof over night and supplied dried up, that the prices were driven up as well. Well, here is the dirty little secret; it hasn’t gone up much at all. I honestly think we are getting ripped off and scalped.
Now, I don’t work at a very big shop. So we don’t have a lot of buying power, which translates to our prices being a little higher than most. But here is what we are seeing and I’m going to try to fill you all in without upsetting some other shops. As it stands the shop’s average cost of 9mm for 115gr FMJ goes up to about $10 a box. That same box is being sold online for $50 plus. As for 5.56 they are running around $9 a box but are being sold for $20 plus.
Will America-First News Outlets Make it to 2023?
Things are looking grim for conservative and populist news sites.
There’s something happening behind the scenes at several popular conservative news outlets. 2021 was bad, but 2022 is proving to be disastrous for news sites that aren’t “playing ball” with the corporate media narrative. It’s being said that advertisers are cracking down, forcing some of the biggest ad networks like Google and Yahoo to pull their inventory from conservative outlets. This has had two major effects. First, it has cooled most conservative outlets from discussing “taboo” topics like Pandemic Panic Theater, voter fraud, or The Great Reset. Second, it has isolated those ad networks that aren’t playing ball.
Certain topics are anathema for most ad networks. Speaking out against vaccines or vaccine mandates is a certain path to being demonetized. Highlighting voter fraud in the 2020 and future elections is another instant advertising death penalty. Throw in truthful stories about climate change hysteria, Critical Race Theory, and the border crisis and it’s easy to understand how difficult it is for America-First news outlets to spread the facts, share conservative opinions, and still pay the bills.
Without naming names, I have been told of several news outlets who have been forced to either consolidate with larger organizations or who have backed down on covering certain topics out of fear of being “canceled” by the ad networks. I get it. This is a business for many of us and it’s not very profitable. Those of us who do this for a living are often barely squeaking by, so loss of additional revenue can often mean being forced to make cuts. That means not being able to cover the topics properly. Its a Catch-22: Tell the truth and lose the money necessary to keep telling the truth, or avoid the truth and make enough money to survive. Those who have chosen survival simply aren’t able to spread the truth properly.
We will never avoid the truth. The Lord will provide if it is His will. Our job is simply to share the facts, spread the Gospel, and educate as many Americans as possible while exposing the forces of evil.
To those who have the means, we ask that you please donate. We have options available now, but there is no telling when those options will cancel us. We have our GivingFuel page. There have been many who have been canceled by PayPal, but for now it’s still an option. Your generosity is what keeps these sites running and allows us to get the truth to the masses. We’ve had great success in growing but we know we can do more with your assistance.
Thank you, and God Bless!
JD Rucker