I dunno, hard one to call.
The last time this happened I don't think it was the gun guys per se who helped create the shortage. I mean, yeah, if you didn't have one and you thought you wouldn't be able to get another one EVER then you paid your money. But last time I think there were a lot of non-gun types, doctors, lawyers, whatever, who kinda thought the same thing. Dropping $1,500 on an AR was nothing to them and I think there were a lot of NEW gun owners after the last one.
From what I read there are folks who have built who-knows-how-many since prices have come down. I used to joke the price of ARs would go DOWN during the next panic because of all the ones coming off of the benches for sale.
We will see what happens but one things for sure, we, as a gun community, need to come together and write our senators and representatives (both state and federal) to let them know how we feel about slowly losing our rights in the interest of "safety".
The good news is ammo seems to still be available and some places still have lowers in stock. Maybe this is just a mini-panic. And right now I think it is the gun community that is fueling it. Once the legislation/election in November hits, it will probably be a full-blown storm.