It just never seems to quite work out for the little guy. Back in 1994 representatives of the people of Kansas (home of Cessna, Beechcraft and other airplane makers) introduced to Congress the General Aviation Revitalization Act. What it did was close out foreign competitors to private aviation. It didn’t close out access for the big boys, just for the little guy. Whereas in 1955 the private pilot could buy a brand spanking new Cessna for about $8,500 dollars (a little over a year and a half wages for a blue collar guy), it pushed the price of a new Cessna today to over $300,000 dollars. A tad more than a year and a half wages. Try 8 times a years blue collar salary.
So today private pilots scramble to buy the only thing still affordable, the decent 30/40/50/60 year old plane. Not as nice, not as safe. Or they can buy a kit from overseas, but not an assembled plane. So for $90,000 dollars or so they can spend what should be the price of new, and take a year to build it themselves. And the associated risk of a DIY project. 30 years ago seniors took group bus day trips to Canada to buy prescription drugs. The business model for the pharmaceutical industry has always had Americans paying 10 times what they do in Canada or Mexico, under the guise of having Americans pay for research and development.
Those 2 examples were pretty easy to figure out with 30 years of hindsight. I’m old enough to have noticed how votes in Congress go. If something that helps corporations comes up, well by golly it just barely squeaks by with enough votes. If its going to screw the little guy, some Senator who is 6 years out on reelection provides the passing vote. Funny how that works. Now the ammo shortage that has been going on the past 12 months has me stumped.
Now I understand why ammo producers like keeping a shortage going, they can make profits hand over fist by keeping supply low and prices high. But what I don’t understand are the sellers, the big box stores. Ya can’t sell what you don’t have. They haven’t had ammo or primers to sell for a year. If they had some they could sell ungodly amounts. The pent up demand is incredible. So since its not being produced domestically, why aren’t they going to foreign sources?
Their sales figures have to be way down. And there’s no reason for it. They’ve been importing a percentage of foreign ammo for years. Any shooter is familiar with Aguila, Sellier & Bellot and Armscor (Mexico, Czech Republic and Philippines). So they are not barred from importing. But why just those 3 makers? I suppose you could add a fourth one we’ve seen, TulAmmo from Russia I believe, but why just those 4? You know other countries that make guns, also make ammo, Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, Germany, so why aren’t we getting ammo from them? Its not like they have a civilian market they have to satisfy. (I just this week found out about a new one that a couple of online sellers are importing, but not big box stores, Igman from Croatia)
Politics and Religion 