GRAND CHUTE, Wis. (WFRV)-Finding ammo for gunowners isn’t an easy task right now according to several gun shops in Northeast Wisconsin.  

For 20 years, Nate Oberg has owned Fox Valley Firearms in Appleton. Over the years, he has seen periods where supply is short and periods where there are surpluses. Right now though, there is a shortage.

“We are getting hit on almost every front in one way or another of lack of supply,” says Oberg.

He says manufacturers are still catching back up after COVID-19 disrupted production and that they aren’t able to offer the same variety of items as they usually do.

He says demand for firearms is high right now and has been since the beginning of the pandemic. The high demand also puts stress on the supply.

Ammo is one of the harder firearm-related items to get and has been since the beginning of the pandemic.

“Now going into 2021 people felt what they felt last year and they started to prepare this year anytime ammo hits the shelves it is gone because nobody wants to be stuck with no ammo,” says Oberg.

Oberg isn’t the only Northeast Wisconsin gun shop owner feeling the impact of supply shortages.

Fireline Shooting and Training Center in Grand Chute says they are experiencing similar shortages. They have a gun range and offer a wide range of training and gun safety courses which helps them compensate for when low supply means they can’t sell as much of their other products.

“The industry kind of being choked out and everything being bought out in the last 20 months and manufacturers building what they can to get out the door but can’t make everything at once,” says Brandon Powers who is the Chief Operating Officer for Fireline Shooting and Training Center.

Deer hunting season is right around the corner and gun shop owners say this type of ammo is hard to find. Powers suggests that hunters be prepared to shop around for ammo until they find what they are looking for and to buy a few extra boxes to stock up.

Powers says he and his staff are working as hard as they can to find new avenues to restock their shelves with items hunters need. Oberg is optimistic that the supply shortage will end soon, suggesting that once hunting season and the holidays end demand for firearm-related items will decrease which will allow manufacturers to catch up.

Oberg says deer hunting season is the second busiest time of the year for his shop. The busiest is during tax season when people tend to use their tax credits to splurge on firearms.