ELYSBURG - The Pennsylvania State Shoot has grown by leaps and bounds over the years, from the number of traps to the number of shooters, and it sometimes seems the sport's potential for growth is endless.
But every once in awhile, somebody throws a wrench into the machine.
The wrench right now comes in the form of ammunition, or rather, the lack thereof. There is a serious shortage of shotgun ammo for trapshooting, and although many participants in the sport can easily afford all the ammunition they want, they can't buy what's not being produced.
"It's more demand and supply than anything," said Pat Geiser, president of Geiser Guns of Sunbury, which has been selling ammunition at the shoot since the mid-1990s. "I really don't have a firm answer why. But every time a shooting like Newtown (Conn.) happens, people run out and buy guns. Those same people buy ammo."
Geiser said that in the first five months of 2013, right after the Connecticut shootings, handgun sales went through the roof, both from people concerned for their safety and from those who fear pending anti-gun legislation.
"Something like 40 percent of those buyers had never bought a gun before," Geiser said. "All those guns need ammo."
When something like that happens, combined with increased government contracts for the military and civilian police forces, companies that produce ammunition find it hard to keep up with demand.
"I can only speak for Federal (Federal Premium Ammunition, a supplier Geiser works with), but last year I was told by one of their people that they do between $1.3 billion and $1.7 billion a year in business, and they had $8.7 billion in orders," Geiser said. "I asked if that meant I had to wait eight years for product and he said no, but that it meant it would take longer than usual."
That's because when a company like that gets more orders than normal for handgun ammunition, it has to retool its machinery.
"They have to refit their machines to change from making shotgun shells to making handgun ammunition," Geiser said.
The increase in gun sales is also a response to fears gun owners have that President Barack Obama will enact legislation by executive order rather than working with Congress.
"We have a president right now who wants to legislate with a pen rather than going through the proper channels," Geiser said. "He could sign something overnight and a lot of people are afraid that might happen."
There is also a shortage of gunpowder, which affects shooters who like to make their own shells.
Geiser said a few quiet years for the military and on the home front would be a good way to being back the manufacture of sporting shells in larger quantities.