I don't know how old any of you guys are, but I still have a brick of wildat with an old-fashioned price tag sticker on it. The price is $13.99, and it was purchased at Target. Yes, Target. That's from the mid 70's. Think about that price and the time frame. That's significantly more expensive than .22 ammo was at Walmart when I started shooting (a lot) in about 2002/2003. At that time I was paying $9.97 for a 550 pack of Federal. When that ammo purchase was made at Target, I also remember my father making the mistake of saying it was for a handgun. He had to fill out a form to get it.
I'm not convinced that this is a panic. It's something more nefarious.