Do You Have Enough Ammo to Last You 4 Years?

3/18/09 Update: While we're ecstatic to hear that the NRA-ILA and a couple of good politicians have rectified this wrong, there's still merit to this particular blog below in showing just how vulnerable we are to the minds and wills of a select few.

I would suspect that there are very few readers who do. And that’s a huge problem with the latest twist in the government soap opera.

As you may know, Obama previously proposed as a Senator that ammunition would receive a 500% tax hike. He did so as a crafty way to essentially take away our guns. Obviously, without ammunition, gun owners had better get good at throwing our firearms at an assailant or using them as batons without ammo. You and I both know that with his penchant for taxing the American people worse than any president ever (even through the liability of his spending packages), he’s not likely to get past a deaf and moot Congress this proposal for a 500% tax hike on ammo. So what does he do? Nothing. He doesn’t have to do anything because his Secretary of State is interpreting a Department of Defense directive to favor this new administration’s distaste for guns. And it’s done without Congress having any say in it. As of June 11, 2008, the Department of Defense is to no longer allow the military to sell fired casings to ammunition remanufacturers until they have been “mutilated”, aka shredded into scrap brass.

Let’s break this down a little bit.

In order for you to shoot, you have to have ammo. Duh, right? Bear with me here. When you practice shooting, you will typically use remanufactured ammunition because it’s less expensive. For example, 1,000 rounds of 9mm ammo (115 grain) which is remanufactured costs $207, while new ammo, 9mm (115 grain) costs $269 at a bargain price. So the savings can be substantial. The key to the pricing advantage of remanufactured ammunition is that the remanufacturers are able to buy their once-fired casings primarily from the military. As you can imagine, the military uses a LOT of ammo and due to their rules they can only use new ammo. This makes them an ideal source from which to purchase used casings. However, now that the DOD has determined that they are only permitted to sell their ammo casings AFTER they have been shredded, this means a whole lot to your wallet.

1) Yes, the “remanufactured” ammo will be more expensive (as if the past year of price increases haven’t been bad enough.) The reason being is now there is an extra step in the process in order for the remanufacturers to have foundries turn the shredded brass (and other metals) into the casings they need. The reason why I put the “remanufactured” in quotation marks is that it’s doubtful to me that the new product should be called “remanufactured” as opposed to new since this additional process entails what new-ammo manufacturers have to do to produce their ammo.

2) Your tax dollars now pay for the shredding of the casings which the military will now perform on all of their casings prior to selling it.

3) The remanufactured ammo represents approximately 65-75% of the ammunition market among civilians AND law enforcement. Law enforcement regularly uses remanufactured ammo for their target practices. Thus, now law enforcement is paying a higher price either for the remanufactured ammo, or a higher price to buy new ammo. Guess whose tax dollars pay for that?

4) Due to the interpretation of this DOD directive, there are a great deal of ammunition remanufacturers who will have to lay off a sizeable portion of their employees. Hello, unemployment. Hello, extra foreclosures. Hello, extra bankruptcies.

5) This all presumes that since the casings are being shredded they will still be sold to the remanufacturers. This is doubtful as China is the largest buyer of such metals from us in its shredded condition. Don’t think for a second that they won’t get first crack at buying this shredded brass. After all, we owe them for buying up so much of our debt, right? This means that we may have put out of business ALL of the remanufacturers in the U.S. with this one strategic directive. If the remanufacturers go out of business, then we have the small number of new-ammo manufacturers to provide all the rest of us with ammo. And the military gets first shot in front of any buyer to obtain their ammo. Now think about this economically. You have what used to represent about a third of the ammo sales in the U.S. and now they are the primary source to handle nearly all of the ammo manufacturing. That’s called a serious supply-and-demand problem. If you talk to anyone who buys ammo, you will undoubtedly hear stories of empty shelves, and hard-to-find ammo. Are you starting to see why ammo is so hard to obtain now and why prices have increased substantially? Expect an even greater supply-and-demand imbalance as the dominos continue to fall, folks.

So why do I ask if you have enough ammo for 4 years? Because if you don’t, that situation is not likely to change unless this administration reigns-in how the directive is being interpreted, or an administration change occurs four years from now. It won’t matter how much money you have. You simply won’t be able to buy enough with the military standing in line in front of you. NOW some of you may know why I predicted that there would come a time when a bucket of ammo would be worth more than a bucket of gold…on so many levels. (see http://www.preparednesspro.wordpress.com/)

Clearly the economists who thought this one through are on the same team as those who are running Wall Street and are devoid of much in the form of patriotism or intellect.

See the link below the draft of this directive.
www.dla.mil/j-6/dlmso/Archives/JSACG/meetings/11Jun08/ADC_220_Small%20ArmsDefinition_DRAFT_JSACG_11June2008.doc

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved. You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.

News Flash

This is simply one of those things I just can't keep to myself. While it does involve a bit of “she said, she said” I still believe it’s credible and wanted to pass it along to all of you. As a forewarning, this issue may be considered disturbing by many, so you may want to wait to read this message on a blasé day.

Yesterday, (March 11, 2009) I went to get my nails done. As soon as I walked in, Heather, the gal who has done my nails for nearly three years, got a call on her cell. Seeing Heather regularly over the last couple of years has allowed me to meet and come to know her family and even friends of the family. When Heather looked who was calling, she noticed it was her daughter, then apologized to me for the delay and took the call, while she readied herself for our appointment. As I waited patiently, I could easily hear her side of the conversation.

“What?!
“When?!
“Are you SERIOUS?!
“Why isn’t this on the news here?!
“OK. Just calm down. There’s nothing we can do about it from here. I’m so sorry!
“No. It’s not even on the news here. I’ve seen no coverage of this.”

The conversation was brief, but clearly disturbing. When she got off the phone she shared the conversation with me. Keep in mind that after three years of doing business with her, Heather knows me and my firm beliefs. (After all, what else is there to do while you’re getting your nails done but talk, right?)

The Story the News is Not Telling You DOES Affect Your Life

Heather's daughter’s best friend is from Mexico, who I’ve met on several occasions at Heather’s. Part of her family is here legally in the U.S. while a great many more are in Mexico. Apparently her Mexican friend had just recently spoken with her family in Mexico. They conveyed to her some atrocious facts that have serious bearing here in the U.S. Heather’s daughter was clearly shaken up by a recent conversation she had with her Mexican friend which was relayed to Heather.

The drug cartel are attempting to take over the Mexican government…all of it. They are on the run throughout parts of the country and are intent on their design, senselessly killing Mexican citizens in their wake. Entire small cities have been completely abandoned as many have left their homes and fled in hopes to find safety from the power-crazed drug cartel. Along the path of flight from these cities are piles of decapitated bodies.

Here are some of the ramifications of these atrocities. As you know, illegal immigrants have become more flagrant in their attempts to enter our nation. With the drug cartel's actions to compel them, obviously fear will spread throughout areas of Mexico. Our borders are not prepared to handle or defend against a mass exodus of fearful Mexican citizens. If sufficient communication is conducted between the U.S. and Mexico government officials prior to a completed coup, I suspect that our nation may even intend to permit a massive flight of Mexican citizens across our borders. If that were the case, how do we differentiate between the innocent citizens trying to flee for safety, albeit illegally, and the blood-thirsty members of the drug cartel? If the cartel successfully takes over the Mexican government, what kind of international neighbor will we have on our hands? I don’t know about you, but it makes me very concerned to think we may have a tyrant for a next door neighbor who has committed Nazi-like atrocities on its own citizens.

While I was able to find one piece of news on the 11th of March about the “improving drug cartel crack down in Mexico,” the article stated that “90 percent of the killings in Mexico are drug related.” This would have you believe that only “bad guys” are being killed. Bad guys, even in Mexico, don’t get decapitated by officials, folks, and they certainly aren’t left in piles on deserted city streets. This is certainly NOT the report being conveyed by citizens of Mexico seeing it first-hand. Innocent citizens in the vicinity of the attempted coup efforts are indeed suffering heinous deaths. These violent gangs are apparently increasing in their level of–and demographic spread of—sheer violence. In Arizona, kidnappings at the hands of Mexican drug cartel members have increased significantly in the first part of this year along with the number of all-out assaults on the U.S. border. In Mexico, reports show that twice as many deaths have already occurred in the first 8 weeks of 2009, compared to the same time last year, with over 1,000 deaths reported. Some of the decapitations are reported in the cities on the U.S. / Mexican border like Tijuana and Juarez and surrounding cities. A small online newspaper reports that a note attached to a pile of decapitated bodies said, “For each one of mine you kill, I will kill 10 of your soldiers.” The beheadings were also accompanied by serious mutilation of the bodies.

Considering that Mexico has an agreement (albeit highly unconstitutional) with the U.S. government to use Mexican forces on American soil to aid in anticipated massive civil unrest and the event of the declaration of martial law, this is even more frightening in my opinion. These “aiding military” members could be corrupted officials by the drug cartel, or could be the cartel members personally.

I’m also concerned about a potential mass exodus (illegal or not) and an escalation of violence in our neighborhoods here as a result. At present, over 60% of all violent crimes are committed in the U.S. at the hands of illegal immigrants. Over 90% of all criminal shootings throughout our nation are committed with a weapon illegally imported into our nation from Mexico!

Over 90% of the cocaine in the U.S. comes from the Mexican drug cartel. 90%! This means that the drug cartel has been alive and well within our own borders for some time, and with the financial pinch they are feeling from heightened attempted crack-downs by their government—as indicated by fighting in a never-before-seen manner in Mexico—you have to believe it’s going to affect you here as well. The drug cartel is clearly becoming more desperate and brazen.

So, what is my point in telling you all of this? It is not to make you afraid. It is to make you aware and thoughtful of the consequences of the violence in Mexico and its effect within America. A crisis of significant proportions can be at our doors much sooner than you think. So here’s the question: are you ready for it? Do you have appropriate food, water, and medical supplies should your normal way of life be interrupted by chaos or other unexpected events? And most importantly—DO YOU KNOW HOW TO DEFEND YOURSELF? If you have martial arts training, great, but that’s simply not going to help you in a street fight or a violent domestic break in. Women especially, since they are the top of a criminal’s list of easy targets, MUST learn how to protect themselves and not rely on someone else to do so. That requires women to become familiar and skillful in the use of a firearm. Such a tool is the only appropriate equalizer against the level of violence that the Mexican drug cartel is willing to wield to get what they want. Your peace of mind and safety can no longer afford to be the result of your perceived environment. It is the result of the environment of safety you proactively create for yourself. If you have not fortified that environment with the skills and mindset that will better protect you, then you will not have the peace of mind you seek. Simply having fired a gun out in the field or on a gun range doesn’t cut it either. It’s important that you take the acquisition of such a skill just as seriously as you would a babysitter for your children. Get expert training that you can use in a real-life situation which will undoubtedly involve an emotionally climatic situation. Contrary to some common notions, preparing yourself to fight such a battle doesn’t give you nightmares; it gives you peace—peace, knowing that if the time did come for you to use such skills, you’re going to know exactly what to do and how to do it in order to protect you, your family, and, if necessary, your community.

To your peace and safety,

Kellene Bishop

Copyright 2009 Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved. You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Kellene Bishop.