I think we shouldn't really blame the dealers, after all, they're in it for the money. I'd rather say it's the fault of the affluent sheeps, who couldn't care less how much they pay for their toys, as long as the have the latest/fashionable one, which will allow their vanity and arrogance to snob the less affluent shooters.
Ouch, that sounded a little sour, didn't it? Doesn't matter, I think it's the truth, for many of them anyways. And if you don't agree, just think about how many guys you've seen at the range shooting the latest fire-stick, who can't shoot groups any better than you can with your old, unfashionable gun? Guys like the one I once met at the range who could only shoot groups many times larger with his Sig P-210 than I could shoot with a stock (and somewhat loose) Para-Ordnance P-14/45 (And mine were shot at 25M, whereas his were shot at 15M). He shot everybody's gun that day, but no one was allow to touch his P-210! Oh, and the same thing happened when he brought out his Steyr (Jäger or something) based on the SSG-69 rifle; everybody shot better groups than him.
I'm with OZZ on this one, prices will go UP!