Ammo Panic Buying 2026: Midterms & Government Warnings Nearly Triple Ammo Sales

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Report Highlights

Emergency preparedness alerts around the world and midterm elections in the U.S. correlated with sharp spikes in U.S. online ammo sales.

  • From October 27th through November 5th, 2026, ammo sales more than tripled (+233% rounds sold).

  • Rifle and shotgun ammo led the surge in ammo orders, while specialty hunting calibers increased only slightly.

  • Rounds sold of 5.56/223 Rem cartridges increased by 289% during the preparedness warning period, and 516% after the midterm elections.

  • Buyers spent 41% more per order on November 4th, 2026 than in the previous baseline period.

Ammo.com provides reliable data from reputable sources. You can view the sources used in this article here.

Methodology

All percentages reported below are based on Ammo.com online orders.

  • Percentages were calculated against the daily average for online orders between September 28, 2026 and October 25, 2026 (28 days).
  • Orders during the emergency preparedness period were placed between October 27, 2026 and November 2, 2026 (7 days).
  • Election-period orders occurred from November 3 through November 5, 2026 (3 days); the full period covers October 27 through November 5 (10 days).

The following state breakdown is based on site visitors’ locations, not their shipping addresses. We excluded some states due to insufficient data.

Line chart of daily Ammo.com orders against the September 28 to October 25 baseline: orders began climbing October 26, reached +208% on October 30 and peaked at +267% on November 4, the day after the midterm elections
Line chart of daily Ammo.com orders against the September 28 to October 25 baseline: orders began climbing October 26, reached +208% on October 30 and peaked at +267% on November 4, the day after the midterm elections1241×881 47.3 KB

State-by-State Breakdown of Ammo Sale Increases

U.S. map of the change in Ammo.com orders by state from October 27 to November 5, 2026, led by Wisconsin (+274%), Massachusetts (+261%) and Tennessee (+238%)
U.S. map of the change in Ammo.com orders by state from October 27 to November 5, 2026, led by Wisconsin (+274%), Massachusetts (+261%) and Tennessee (+238%)1241×911 97.8 KB

Between October 27, 2026 and November 2, 2026, online ammo orders through Ammo.com spiked substantially. Twenty-three U.S. states saw more than a 100% increase in online ammo orders.

Across the full period (October 27 through November 5, 2026), orders in Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Michigan, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, South Carolina, and Alabama each increased more than 200%.

The table below shows which states had the largest increases in online orders across the full period, October 27, 2026 through November 5, 2026, using the daily average of online orders from September 28 through October 25 as a baseline.

Continue reading Ammo Panic Buying 2026: Midterms & Government Warnings Nearly Triple Ammo Sales on Ammo.com

https://ammo.com/research/ammo-panic-buying#state-by-state-ammo-sales-increases

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Yeah this is too real and sucks ass too :unamused_face:

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Yeah, it bites. Panic buying becomes self-fulfilling: everybody tries to get ahead of the shortage, and collectively helps manufacture the shortage they were worried about.

Kilroy was here

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