Good news! The price of firearms is holding stable and has been so for about nine months. The price of the average firearm did increase from 25 percent to 50 percent from mid-2019 to mid-2021, but there have been no significant increases since July 2021. The bad news now is what the bad news has been — the firearms that are most desirable continue to be of very limited availability. Looks like lots of people continue to buy firearms. If I was in the market for a new shootin’ piece, I think I would try to acquire it sooner rather than later … just sayin’. Don’t look for prices to do anything except go up. Even if the trend up is slow, firearm prices will not be going down anytime in the near future.
Ammunition prices have remained steady for the past three months, at a level of about 100 percent higher than they were in March 2020. The “new normal” pricing (if that ever arrives) is predicted to be about 50 percent higher than it was back in March 2020. Ergo, we should see some price reductions sometime unless we see negative changes in the availability of ammunition components, deterioration of the supply chain, increases in consumer demand and no further federal mandates that gum up the works.
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Far too many law enforcement officers lose their lives in the line of duty as a result of non-LEO drivers who don’t exercise sufficient attention to what they should be doing when they operate their car around law enforcement activity. Almost every week, we learn of officers who are struck by civvies while the officers are conducting a “routine” traffic stop. They could be assisting a driver whose vehicle has broken down or be doing any number of other things that involve an officer and a traffic event that has an officer running their light bar.
It is obvious that many civvies lose their ability to use good judgment when they see flashing lights. The tragic result, all too often, is a LEO who is killed or disabled because they are struck by a vehicle driven by someone who could have and should have done something differently. For you LEOs, try to keep a vehicle between you and traffic. And keep your head on a swivel when you can’t have a vehicle as a barrier. For you civvies, make sure you have an open lane between you and the flashing lights. If you can’t change lanes, slow down to 20 miles per hour below the posted speed limit.
And for goodness sake, watch the road and don’t rubberneck to see what is going on with the flashing lights. Figuring out what is going on with the flashing lights is not nearly as important as your paying attention to what you are doing. LEOs deserve to make it home safely, too.
Stay safe out there.
