GENOA TOWNSHIP, Ohio -
The nation is dealing with an ammunition shortage, and its
impact could reach the law enforcement community.
"State law mandates we have to qualify once a year. We do it
twice a year with additional training," Genoa Township Police Chief Robert
Taylor said.
The agencies wouldn't be short on duty rounds, but it might impact the
training rounds they use monthly to stay sharp.
"We are about ready to find out. We are submitting an order
and we were told it might be a while because of the shortage," Chief Taylor
said.
It is impacting others too, including the average customer at
local shooting ranges.
"First time our shelves are half empty,
first time we have been scrambling to keep ammunition," said Clair Marvin or AIMHI
Shooting Range in New Albany.
Marvin tells NBC4 that ammunition has gone from difficult to get and
keep to being nearly unavailable.
"We've talked to some distributors that say we've billed to
2015. That is a long time," Marvin said.
In the meantime, stores like AIMHI have put two-box limits per
day on some of the ammunition.
Taylor said they may have to look at scaling back some
of the practice ammunition they give weekly to officers, but they will never
cut it out.
"I do not seeing us backing off one bit. [We] might be tougher on
our budget, but no we cannot afford to skimp on training," Taylor said.
