Instructive data on the effect of hypothecated bans

There's been a lot of talk about banning certain categories of weapons / accessories / limiting ammunition purchases in the good ol' US of A recently. Nothing's gone onto the statute book yet, but what's the effect? Bob Owens reports that you can't buy a gun or ammunition, but not for the reason you'd think:

The [gun store] owner was standing out front talking to the first customer in line as the clerks inside finished setting up for the daily rush. They would open promptly at 9:00 AM. [...] There were 25 souls patiently queued up from the front door down the sidewalk into the parking lot. This is the new normal, and has been for months. Sometimes the line is shorter, sometimes it is longer, and on days that it is cold and rainy, people sit in their vehicles until the store opens, but there is always a line.

Gun store owners jokingly laud President Obama as the best salesperson they've ever had, but there's a kernel of truth to it. If you threaten to ban something, those who want that item will (as long as that item has a long shelf life) pre-emptively stock up on it. After all, even if no ban comes to pass, they're still going to use up the item over time, so they've paid a small premium in return for security of supply.

Of course with the various UK plans to ban coffee, bacon and alcohol, getting the populace to lay in a stock for the future is a little trickier. Setting up one's own pig farm or still would seem to be the best strategy. You can always trade booze for coffee.

Donald Sensing anecdotally supports the above report from Bob Owens:

The problem is finding ammo. The gun counter had a sign posted that sales of ammo were restricted to three boxes per customer, and no more than one box can be of 9mm, .40-cal or .45-cal. Those calibers are also sold only from behind the counter now, no longer being placed on the shelves. As for .22-cal. long rifle, it is to laugh.
I chatted with the sales attendant for awhile, who told me that the store gets ammo delivered at 8 a.m. on MWF. "The line to buy starts forming outside at 6 a.m." He also said their ammo delivery amounts are just as high as ever, it just does not stay in stock.

Bear in mind that Sandy Hook (the trigger for the talk of firearms banning) was 3 months ago; this is not a flash in the pan. This is a sustained high demand, surpassing the industry's ability to ramp up production.

The net effect of all the talk on banning or restricting firearms? Bob Owens has no doubts.

In my estimation, this is the most heavily-armed the American people have ever been. I'm including the World Wars. Even then, the guns and ammo were going to military units deploying overseas, not going towards suburban stockpiles, and under freshly turned earth in hidden caches.

It's just possible that people like Senator Dianne Feinstein of California are secret agents of the NRA, proposing pointless bans on "assault-type" weapons in order to spur the populace to be better armed. Someone from the Huffington Post should probably write a conspiracy article about that.