$5000 Bullets

Nick O'Boyle asks on Twitter: What are the unintended consequences of $5,000 bullets? I guess the inspiration is here.

1. Crime scene investigation gets harder. Bullets are more likely to be removed by a perpetrator, and that leaves less evidence available for investigating violence. Corollary: violent crime is still committed, but with other weapons which are harder to track. I'm thinking immediately of knives, but there are plenty of items that can be converted into weapons.

2. A black market in bullets develops. This is no good, because black markets are often marred by low quality standards (note illegal markets for drugs, which are rarely pure). Bullets are sold which backfire more often, making it more dangerous for a shooter to wield a gun.

3. Sportsmen are "protected" by allowing bullets to be sold at minimal cost at rifle ranges for use at the range only. Working at a range suddenly becomes very dangerous.

4. What about hunters? Game hunting becomes a much less popular hobby because it is suddenly ridiculously expensive. Many hunters take up the crossbow as an alternative.

There's probably more, but that's what I have for now.