Category: COVID-19

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ammo ammunition COVID-19 pandemic range reloading SHTF year 2020

Problems of the Gun Owner During The Covid-19 Pandemic

There’s one thing that really sucks about this pandemic isn’t just the fact that folks are dying.  It’s that folks can’t practice self defense (unless they’ve their own land, of course…most folks don’t).

What’s hindering folks from visiting ranges or even practicing on their own land?  The availability and costliness of ammunition, for one.  When you can find ammo, it is sometimes double the price of pre-pandemic ammo.  I’ve found some decently priced ammo, but it is become rare now.  When I find decently priced ammo, I usually buy what I can.

The type of ammo also dictates how much you’re going to spend if you need it.  An example is, I bought 250 rounds of 9mm practice ammo a month or two ago, for maybe $135 (yes, that’s a deal nowadays).  This week, I wanted to try to find some .45ACP ammo (because I conceal carry an XD45 and needed practice) and the lowest price I could find was $1/round!  So, I may switch to carrying my XD9 instead to save costs in practicing (I’ve a large stash of 9mm ammo, too).

I also find myself always worrying about over-consuming my ammo for the sake of practicing.  At first, I tried to delay practicing and went through most of 2020 without visiting the range.  When I finally started practicing, I was so worried about shooting too much ammo that I was counting every round I shot.

Can you buy ammo at the range?  I don’t know.  I suppose it would depend on how stocked your range would be, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that ammo was marked up (because range owners and employees have to eat too).  When I was last at the range (maybe 3 weeks ago), I didn’t ask and didn’t look.

Aside from that, I found that practicing with a mask (a requirement of the range that I’m a member of, which I have no problem with) is a bit bothersome but doable.

Another question would be, in times like these, should a person reload?  The answer should be yes, but some folks don’t have the aptitude to reload.  Some folks don’t have the time and can’t spend the money to buy the equipment.  Also, some folks do not have the aptitude for such things.  There’s also the current problem of shortages of reload materials (primers or projectiles or even powder).

I won’t mention prepping because most folks with guns nowadays don’t deeply prep.  Most people don’t associate gun owners with hardcore prepping, but what about prepping ammo?  There’s no hard fact regarding how much ammo a person should stash away for SHTF situations, but we’re not even talking SHTF.  We’re talking Covid-19.  Unless things take a drastic turn for the worse, this pandemic will not spawn any SHTF situation.  So, how much ammo should a person have on-hand at all times in pandemic situations?  My answer:  enough to use for self defense and practice.  I’ve at least 1K of 9mm right now, which should last me a while for practicing, if I practice every other month and limit my practice round count to 150 rounds or so, and while also consuming ammo when training; I’d be buying 9mm when I see it on sale at decent prices in an effort to replace what I used during practice.

Also, note that in the past year, many folks bought firearms when they’d never owned one.  Those folks want/need ammo too.  I’ve seen many disgruntled “veteran” gun owners grumbling that folks are buying ammo and raising the cost of it now, when they should’ve prepared (prepped) before now.  Well, how can you prep ammo if you weren’t interested in firearms?  It’s a very stupid reason to be disgruntled, in my opinion.  Be glad that we’ve new gun owners to bolster our numbers.  Those same grumbling gun owners used to not own guns.  We ALL started with no (or small amounts of) ammo.

What problems have you experienced or noticed regarding owning a gun or practicing at ranges during this pandemic?

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Corona COVID-19 indoor lawsuit ranges reopen Spanish Flu VCDL

VCDL’s Progress on Lawsuit to Reopen Indoor Shooting Ranges

I’m not sure what to think of the below:

While I believe in fighting for 2A and general freedoms, the recent pandemic requires social distancing. I can understand why indoor ranges should be temporarily shut down. Some folks state that with modern indoor ranges having ventilation systems that would negate some of the infection vectors, it would not vacate all of them (ie, surfaces that will be contaminated such as stall walls and benches, door knobs, and range equipment).

A large majority of my wife’s extended family are either doctors or nurses and they’ve seen people directly affected by the virus. This is no joke and I’m very sure they’re not embellishing when sharing their daily happenings, yet there are folks in the gun community that are accusing folks of lying or embellishing the truth (so that they can have their boogaloo, maybe…dunno). They’ll tout the 2% death stats but I’d rather not rely upon the luck of the draw when we can just keep away from each other for a 3-4 months. That type of crap is easy to say when you’ve stake in the game and I’d rather not have someone decide that type of thing for me.

In my opinion, there has to be a balance of things. The current situation requires distancing. As well, everyone forgets that we’ve been through something like this before with the Spanish flu. For those that need education on that, here is a video published in 2018 regarding that worldwide pandemic (please watch it ALL before leaving any comments):

They had issues containing that pandemic as well.  In fact, we were hit 3 times in 1918, with the virus mutating each time (probably because people were not taking the virus seriously).  Each mutation was more dangerous than the last.

We as people are very short-sighted.  A Japanese friend actually told me that.  He said that compared to other countries in the world, the U.S. is young, yet we continue to make the same mistakes.  I was a bit offended at first but came to understand that what he said is true. 

I believe we can balance the need for freedom while also doing what’s required for the nation to stay as healthy (economy-wise) as possible.  It requires compromise (from both sides).  If the VA governor was as nasty as people say, he could’ve just outright told citizens that outdoor ranges had to be shut down as well.  I can’t stand Northam.  I hate him with a passion.  That doesn’t mean that he’s wrong in everything he says or does, though, and remember, he has a staff that’s helping to guide him in making his decisions. 

I do miss going to shoot.  I can go to an outdoor range but it will require additional commuting and the closest outdoor range requires a max shooting time of 30 minutes, using their ammo (reloads).  I’m not going to drive 1 hour to only shoot 30 minutes.  I’m not going to shoot reloads, either.  Yes, there are folks that are new gun owners, but really, if you’ve not prepared until now, it’s quite late in the game, IMO.

Lastly, those same folks hating government are the same ones giddy with excitement about the government giving them surplus money, which most say they’ll spend on a gun.  Wait a minute.  I thought that you hated big government.  You’re frothing at the mouth at the mention of this hand-out, though.  IMO, that’s no better than the folks you complain about (the welfare abusers).  If you’re going to take that money, better to put it away in case you need it later or in case they decide to take it back next year (they may have told you that they won’t ask for it back, but it’s not like they can’t change their mind later…it’s the government).  And before anyone asks, no, I’m not taking any of it.  I don’t qualify.  The wife and I make too much, yet either one of us can be laid off at any time, but I wouldn’t take it anyways (we’d have put it to the side to give it back if we’d have qualified) because we already get raped annually…I don’t want to give them an excuse to dig deeper.

I wonder how this will turn out.

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Corona COVID-19 Northern Virginia outdoor ranges social distancing

Need to Shoot During the Pandemic and Live In Northern VA?

For those of you that need to shoot (new gun owners, existing gun owners that need to shoot new or repaired guns), Clark Brothers is still open – they’re an outdoor range.  See below: