Heh! Man, I love these ammunition strings! They're fertile fields for conspiracy tripe, right and left...and they never fail to bring out people who evidently don't have much business sense or experience.
A lot of people, in this string and elsewhere, have already quite thoroughly covered all the tripe many people have spouted on this subject...and yes, I said "tripe". I've not mentioned any names, nor am I going to, so don't ask or assume anything about whom I may think to be spouters of said tripe.
I will say this...and most helpfully:
The ammunition shortage IS getting better. The evidence is there in both the slowly increasing availability in the retail market AND the drop in prices by so-called "gougers".
I travel quite frequently between Virginia and South Carolina. Recently, a death in the family drew me back to Indiana. During that time, my family decided we'd take some time off for vacation. As a result, I've traveled 11 states in the last few weeks, three of them routinely because of my work. Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina.
Here are a few tidbits:
Lafayette, Indiana evidently doesn't have too bad a shortage because the Gander Mountain there was LOADED with ammunition. It was like walking into a candy store as a kid. 9mm still in short supply, but hey. Prices higher than I normally pay, but there you have it. Several LGS have supplies, too, though skimpier. Walmart stores are hit or miss but easier to find ammo than, say, Hampton Roads area Walmarts in Virginia.
A Dicks store near the shipyard I work at gets .22 LR ammunition a couple times a week...and I've picked up a few boxes to support the wife and kids shooting this summer from there. They've a 1 box limit on bulk boxes and it's not too difficult for me to check them out when they open to see if they've got any. No long lines of people waiting like scavengers before they open...just get there, have a look-see, and leave with or without a box in the morning.
I routinely check a handful of Walmarts when driving between SC and VA. I almost always find a few with 9mm, .45 acp, and .22 WMR or LR. Emporia and South Hill Walmarts on highway 58 are a couple. Several scattered along the way in NC as well.
Some gun shops in the Greeneville, SC area periodically advertise ammunition availability. A couple Walmarts I frequent in that area seem to get boxes of .45 and 9mm which don't instantly disappear off the shelves. One of them is in Simpsonville.
This is a VAST improvement over just a couple months ago.
If ammunition seems to be short in the region one spends most of their time in, then perhaps investing some time traveling elsewhere might be in order before one declares this to be a universal trait.
This is just my unsolicited input, volunteered at no cost...two cent fee is waived.