You're right of course.

I have fired two receptionists in the last four years for treating my patients/customers like shit.
They both filed for enemployment. Both times I wrote on the form from the state: "When I hired them I told them they were to treat our patients with dignity and caring, and that if a patient was being difficult they were to refer the situation to me immediately. Ms ______ was mean and rude to a sick person who was in need of caring medical care. I will testify to these facts in court."
End of story.

So, we just take our money elsewhere, and the pricks go out of business. Wish it worked that way with beaurocrats, eh?

JCN

They certainly aren't what I would hope for around here (suburban Chicago ) but better than none at all.

A few years back the junk dealers started making serious inroads into the show, but the last two shows I have attended show a bit more improvement. Still, around here it is largely milsurps and used shotguns. Reloading offerings are run-of-the mill and priced the same, or higher, as retail outlets. Only go anymore to find something to feed my milsurps, as we can no longer mail-order ammo into the state.

...unfortunately, there are a lot of vendors that have the "flea market" mentality... if I don't get my price for it here, there's another show next weekend...
I don't share the apparent defeatist thoughts that many do... because I don't go expecting to find a "screaming deal" at every show.... they just don't happen that often.
That's what makes them "screaming deals" .... in the Dallas area, I'm still seeing good stuff.. some at good prices, some overpriced... some vendors still want to "haggle".. some don't.
I went to a show in Lubbock a couple of weeks ago, and was surprised at the number of really nice leverguns available at pretty good prices... not "steals", but good, fair prices.... and Lubbock is a pretty small show, usually.
Maybe I just have different expectations from a gunshow.... I don't expect all vendors to be there trying to unload great stuff at fire sale prices...

Here in CO they started calling them "hunting shows" but the same deal...they sell china, lazer lights, art, candles, cheap knives, coins, toys, tools made in third world countries and a hodge podge of crap totally unrelated to shooting sports. But I figure its pretty much a wash buying primers and powder + entry fee = cost of primers and powder any local place. I personally believe gun show exitbitors are their own worse enemy. Some of these guys have been bringin the same stuff to sell at the same high price for years..........

Talk about sucky gun shows. The one in Phoenix, AZ at the fairgrounds. $5 to park the car and $8 or $9 to get in the door. $14 later you get to see the same stuff as the local gun shops offer. The days of old timers bringing stuff out of the home gun room are just about over. Once in awhile I get something nice. ie: M70 pre-64 actions or old scopes.

Cold Bore, that's what you get for living in Memphis. Back in 1991 I lived in Memphis while stationed at Millington NS. Went to one gun show then and it sucked. If memory serves, I remember only two "real" gun shops in that entire town. Not a good sign, considering the cities population. Here in Arizona, almost every town has a few gun shops. Get west of the mississippi or die!!!!

Heck, down here you can't have ANY loaded ammo in the show. I assume that goes for reloading supplies too, beacuse there are NEVER any reloading stuff FS down here. The ammo guys set up at a different location down the street on the same days as the show.

At least the ammo guys don't charge admission...

Hey Cold Bore, Next time they have a show at the Southaven Ms. Civic Center you need to go! It's a lot different than the crap fest shows at the Memphis fair grounds. More like the old days! Of course the "take your pick" $20 Mauser tables are gone forever. The only problem is they usually only have 1 or 2 a year, but definatly worth the trip.

Terry

I went to the Gun Show trying to find a Savage Muzzle Loader I wanted to look at one up close and possibly buy a TC Encore receiver. No Savage Muzzle loaders to be found and the two TC dealers said I have one at the shop but I didn't bring it. I didn�t think that TC Encore would be so hard to sell that they couldn�t have at least one.

I then talked to the scope dealer about a new/used scope, this is the same guy I buy all of my scopes from, I asked if he had any good pistol scopes for sale, he said that he had just sold the one I was looking for. I ask the guy every time I go if he has a certain scope and he says that he didn't know anybody wanted it or he would have brought one. It seems that the dealers never learn or is it that I only want something nobody else wants?

I looked at a Remington Model 700 VS SF in 223 (They sell for about $600.00 used in good shape with a scope, I have one that I bought new for about $750.00) how much he wanted he said $1200.00 it shoots real tight groups. I couldn�t keep from laughing at him I told him that mine only cost $750.00 new. He asked me how good it grouped. I told him it didn�t matter that his rifle was a used factory rifle and not worth more than $600.00 he just sat there and looked at me like the idiot he apparently was.

My friend summed up Gun Shows like this, it is a bunch of Gun Dealers that carry the same crap in and pack it out year after year and never sell anything because they won�t come down to a reasonable price instead trying to make a killing on one deal.

I like going to the Gun Shows because I like to talk to people and look at what is new on the market. I don't expect to find any kind of a deal and when I do go home a happy customer.

I don�t see any reason for a person to carry a concealed firearm into a gun show, but if they have a carry conceal permit what difference does it make if they are packing iron or not. Are they anymore likely to use it on someone in a gun show that they are in any other circumstances? I believe the only person in a gun show that would p*ss off a potential buyer is a smart a*s gun dealer. I don�t see the logic in it being illegal. It is just another reason for the anti-gun people to try to take our rights away. We have to stick together and not give the antigun people an inch. IMHO

I see that crap here too, all show and no guns. I prefer the small out of the way shows. Not a whole lot there either but at least you dont have all the rubbish for sale. Sometimes the little ones have some real finds too.

The Montana Shows are spotty. One time a certain show will yield some real bargains or sought after items, then the next FIVE aren't worth going to. I attend the Helena,Gt Falls, Bozeman and the Missoula Shows. Many of the tables seem to have the same junk or over priced junk EVERY show. There is a guy who hauls in dozens of milk crates FULL of old cheap holsters. They are priced SO HIGH that I can't imagine anyone other than an idiot buying one. I swear they are the same holsters for the past 25 years.

At least from time to time there are some real "finds".

Last year a few of us fed up with crappy Shows headed out to Reno for the Big Reno show in April. We had a ball. I'm sure the folks that attend the Reno Show thought it was "same old stuff". But to us it was a great show with different items and different Dealers.

I think you need to change areas and see some new stuff from time to time.

FN in MT

Must be different here in Ohio. The last few gun shows I went to would remind you of the good old days. Lots and lots of guns and reloading stuff, gunsmiths, etc.

Sorry that your show sucked.

It is good to read that there are so many who don't know how to shop gunshows



I don't think a guy could support his family, but the deals at local gunshows are so much lower than the internet cost for collectables, a guy could make SOME money.

e.g. Show me some minty all original 1950 Win 70 30-06 for $575 on the internet.

I wasted 6 bucks at the Nashville show this past weekend
There is one in Smyrna next weekend that may be worth going to see.

Central Texas must be the king of sorry gun shows. Still
there are good deals in the $300 to $500 range on occasion.
There are always good deals above $500. Rarely are there any good deals below $200. Too many buyers compete for the cheap deals and the exhibitors apparently think they have to get their table money back on every rifle.
Problem is most of us don't go to the gun show expecting to get a $1500 rifle for $999, even though we can afford it right?
Ed

Clark -



Yes, the Puyallup show is a good one. I have found many, many bargains there...especially in nice older rifles of mechanical interest but not especially "hot" for young hunters today. And I always find "useful stuff" there. Recently bought bars of tin/lead alloy there for less than the current market "spot" price of the tin content alone, two useful scopes (1 Lyman All-American, 1 early Leupold) for $30 each, and a bunch of absolutely perfect .50 ammo cans for $4 each. The only place where I disagree with you even a little is in the time it takes to see the show. I can't possibly get past all the guns there in less than 6 hours. It's almost like the old LA Great Western show used to be. That is, "if you see something you like buy it right then! If you wait 3-6 hours to come back after you've seen all the rest of the show, it'll be already sold!"



A person DOES have to know who puts on good shows in their area of the country. In mid-coastal Oregon, for instance, I avoid the Collector's West shows like the plague.



However, the show put on by the Roseburg Rod & Gun Club twice a year ("Diamond Dan" Dillman officiating, 1-541-672-2761) at the Douglas County Fairgrounds is a jewel. No crap, toys, flea market items allowed at all. Entry is $5 ($7 for a two-day pass), with tons of free, paved parking. All of the visiting public are automatically entered in a lottery for a new rifle and a second prize of a custom $300-$400 knife. Further, the Roseburg Rod & Gun Club negotiates "gun show rates" with the local motels, so those visiting the show just have to say so to get a nice discount on their room rates....that's one of the advantages of having roughly 1,500 club members in a town of only just over 16,500 population. It's right on I-5, too...very convenient to get to.



Exhibitors are entered in a drawing for a $200 cash door prize, and get a free pizza dinner on set-up night (Friday), and a free steak dinner on Saturday night. Capacity is 300 tables, and the place is always sold out months in advance. The exhibitors must be present to win the $200 cash door prize drawing, which is held after the show closes on Sunday afternoon. That has virtually eliminated early leaving by exhibitors and greatly improved the second day of the show over the years.



I've bought/sold many fine rifles there.



Alberta Canuck

I am still very upbeat about the Gunshows in the western U.S. of A. that I attend! If I do not find a bargain at the ones I attend - it is very unusual!

Now I am both a horse trader and a shooter and a Hunter and a Gun collector so I am maybe more easily pleased than the average Gunshow type attendee!

I have attended Gunshows in all the western states along with some in Canada! I also was very active in the Washington Arms Collectors Association shows in Washington State. I served on their elected board of directors for 3 terms (9 years) before I moved to Montana. The W.A.C. put on monthly Gunshows that had between 900 and 1,000 tables!

For anyone in this day and age to question the need, policy and reality of asking the members or patrons to not bring loaded firearms into a Gunshow is just fucking ignorant, absurdly stupid and AGAIN out of touch completely with todays lawyer dominated reality!

I have ridden out the horrendous lawyer induced shit storms resulting from injuries caused in a Gunshow by bullets eminating from "UNLOADED" firearms brought to said Gunshows!

Arguing that loaded Guns be allowed into a Gunshow is fundamentally fucking stupid!

I choose at this time to quit berating those so stupid as to advocate loaded arms be allowed in crowded Gunshows - but I may take up the beration of those ignoramus's who hold to that absurd contention again when I regain my composure! What a stupid fucking statement - yeah lets all load up all our guns in this cement hall and see how much "real fun" we can have!!!

I shake my head at the stupididty of some people!

Haven't they heard of insurance premiums? Haven't they heard of safety concerns? Haven't they heard of lawyers? Haven't they heard of anti-gunners? Haven't they heard of rental contracts with landlords?

At times its perplexing and exasperating dealing with todays small herds of human idiots!

Back to the more pleasing aspects of Gunshows!

Sometime back I decided to keep track of my expenses and spendings at Gunshows for one year! As I wanted to see if I was making a profit in my "hobby"! Well I decided to get a small notebook and keep track of all my expenses and fees and I began with a cash amount I had on hand of $1,000.00 in the plus side of the ledger and I went on to the first Gunshow. Well Friday night set up time came and I saw an item for $2.00. I sold it the next day for $75.00! I also bought some pistol magazines for $25.00 from a walkin type guy that I instantly resold for $90.00. Then I bought a pistol/scope combo (yes Kory it was an XP-100!) that I made over $200.00 on by disassembling it and selling the scope, pistol and its factory case all seperately. At this same show I covered my table and took a cruise around and found a guy selling boxes of books and magazines from under his table. In the bottom of one of the boxes I found 8 Weatherby catalogs. I bought them for $2.00 apiece. I walked not 100 yards from that table and here was a Weatherby collector with a sign saying - wanted Weatherby marked items and catalogs. I sold him those catalogs for $25.00 apiece!!!

Needless to say my ledger showed a handsome profit for that show! The ledger lost my interest soon after that and I did not keep it for the full year that I had intended.

Gunshows are not "sucky" events in my mind! I can deal with and easily ignore the beef jerky and Taiwan made knives and look past the sometimes outrageously marked asking prices! I have very very rarely said to myself at the end of a Gunshow day "gee that Gunshow just was not worth getting out of bed for and travelling to"!

I am not gonna give up all of my secrets but I will say this - go early and stay late! I have made many of my best Gunshow deals being there for Friday night set-up and Sunday afternoon takedowns!

I had to borrow money from my buddy to buy my first collector quality Model 70 Winchester in caliber 22 Hornet! I recently turned down 7 times what I originally paid for this gem back when I borrowed money to get it! And when I do sell it the $1,400.00 profit I will make on it will not be declared to anyone interested in taxing my efforts! If you get what I mean?

I have bought many real treasures at Gunshows from Indian arrowheads to works of art and rare guns and all manner of Hunting and shooting related equipment! I have a personally signed and dedicated by the author Derrydale Press book that I paid $45.00 for years ago. I was offered $750.00 cash for it this spring! I laughed at that offer and fully intend to clear $1,000.00 on it if I can ever bear to part with that limited edition (950 copies only) crocodile leather bound edition of Game in The Desert by the legendary Jack O'Connor!

Yeah I dug that one up at a Gunshow some time back - maybe someone was saying that Gunshow sure sucked?!

That Gunshow did not suck in my opinion!

I never buy in a hurry or because I might make a few bucks. I buy slowly and carefully and when I KNOW I can/will quickly make a significant profit on any item I invest in! If a person does not have the patience and attributes needed to know when and what to invest in then that persons time would maybe be better spent doing something else!

I look forward to Gunshows and most years I do 20 - 40 of them. Since I retired a few years back I really look forward to them - in fact I think of them as a kind of enjoyable hobby/job!

And I will just touch on this further and less recognized attribute of Gunshows! I have garnered (collected) a wealth of, a fortunes worth maybe a better way to describe what I collect FOR FREE at Gunshows - and that item I get for free at Gusnhows is INFORMATION! I get for free, at Gunshows everything from great Hunting spots to leads on rare guns to information on whats becoming more popular (valuable!) these days. I could go on and on about this overlooked attribute of Gunshows but maybe I better not expound on it to much. I am not an especially selfish person but I find information I glean from those that attend Gunshows to be very valuable to me personally!

I have recently seen several used Leupold 3x9 scopes in excellent condition that SOLD for $150.00 at area Gunshows!

Long live Gunshows!

To hell with the anti-gunners!

Hold into the wind

VarmintGuy

With all due respect, the laws that govern concealed carry are enforced by the building the show is in, and the renter has no say.

I can't see the point of "packin'" at a gun show anyway. It's kind of like wearing camo to a gun show.

Jim

I went to the gun show in beautiful, downtown Gassaway, Wv this week end. I could have bought a minty german officers uniform and some honey. There was a pre 64 for sale. It was so butchered-up, bubba-ized that I would have been embarassed to have it in my gun safe. Feller only wanted $1200 for it. A Savage 340 (how many of you are old enough to remember those) for only $450. Same price for a model 788. One fellow had a Leuy 2x7 with one of the adjustment screws so wallowed out that you couldn't turn it. He explained: "its a Leuy and its GUARENTEED! YOU can send it to the factory and they'll fix it for you." It was a steal at $250. Another guy had some well used 3x9 Leupolds at $275. He was also quick to explain the guarentee. I asked him what his best price on three of them was. When he told me $275.00x3, I left him. Lotsa junk jewelry, belt buckles and weird looking knives made in Pakistan.
It seems to me that they are indeed gun SHOWS. And the dealers aren't interested in trading or dealing. Why piddle around making a few bucks here and a couple there when you can sit back and wait for a real pigeon to come along and make a killing. It probably won't be long before we hear in here from some guy that found a steal of a pre-64 for ONLY $1200.

Alberta Canuck:

Your response was very well thought out and civil. It's great when we can disagree and not get personal. I still don't think you answered the basic question at hand.

Earlier I posted:

So where do we draw the line? Varmint Guy, let me give you a list. If you don't mind, select the ones where you think we should disarm in the name of "fearing an incident".

High School football game with 1000 in attendance
Church with 250 in attendance
Rock concert with 10,000 in attendance
Public park with 40 families in attendance
Traffic Jam involving 5000 motorists
Management area on opening day of deer season, 100 hunters
Luby's cafeteria with 75 in attendance

A.C., you've already stated you don't think we have a fundamental right to protect ourselves in gun shows. Your reasons are as follows:

1. Of the many who will carry in a gun show, some are unfit. You are 100% correct. Just as those unfit CCW permit holders would be if they were in attendance at any of the above listed events.

2. The persons putting on the show are legally responsible for what happens at the show. You are 100% correct. Just as someone, some organization or agency is legally responsible in any of the above listed events.

3. There have been acccidental discharges at gun shows in the past. You are 100% correct. Many of those accidental discharges were at the hand of the vendors and dealers.

Let'stake this a step further. There have been accidental and intentional discharges of guns from automobiles. Drive by's., road rage, etc. Now, you have already said you supported the gun show attendees right to carry in his car on the way to the gun show.

Let's apply your logic for a moment. For argument's sake let's say I am the Mayor or Chief of Police in the town in which your gun show is being held. I think we can all agree that mayors and and C.O.P.'s have a fiduciary as well as legal responsibility for the safety and well being of their citizenry. As the C.O.P., my field officers are expressing concern that many of the CCW permit holding motorists they have pulled over seem unfit to carry. There have also been a growing number of drive by shootings lately. There has been intense public outcry to ban concealed carry and a local citizens advocacy group is threatening to sue the city for deriliction of their public safety duty if they do not take immediate action. The C.O.P. and the mayor, with the city council, ban concealed carry as well as carrying in a motor vehicle. Thugs everywhere rejoice. A law abiding, unarmed vendor is robbed and beaten in the city limits on his way to set up at the show. All his guns are stolen. How do you think he feels about the city's action to prevent an accident and reduce civil liability by stripping him of his right to keep and bear arms?

Who is going to protect me at a gun show if someone decides to go on a shooting spree? What measures does the gun show management have in place to keep me from buying a box of ammo at one table and loading it into a gun and shooting it at the next table? My experience shows me I could easily accomplish this. What if this happened? Would dealers then prohibit the handling of guns at gun shows? If you strip me of my right to defend myself, are you then not legally liable if I am killed or injured in a situation where I otherwise could have defended myself?

Please realize I am playing devil's advocate here, but any time a person, organization, business, or agency infringes on our right to bear arms we should cast a cautious eye. Infringements can, IN ANY SITUATION, be done in the name of public safety and reduced legal liability.

Ask yourself this question (even feel free to post a response). Where do I think American citizens should have a right to carry concealed or posess firearms?

I know I've spit out a lot here, but I think you can appreciate that the practice of selective disarmament bears considerable scrutiny and should not be taken lightly.

Paul Barnard

The major difference between the circumstances to which you wish to compare gun shows is a very elemental one...people go to gun shows to see and handle guns. They do NOT go to those other circumstances you describe to handle, fondle, or indeed "play" with guns.



I don't mind them playing with guns...like to do that myself quite a bit. But, it simply is not safe to let lots of people, some of whom are competent and some of whom are not, play with guns when loaded guns are potentially part of the mix.



And, yes, I know that YOU would not let someone handle your carry piece...or would you? I don't mean that insultingly, but consider this. You arrive at the show and enter, carrying your loaded piece. After traversing a couple of aisles, your run across an old friend who you haven't seen for a few months. You exchange greetings and after a bit get around to, "So what have you bought lately..."



The answer could be something like "Oh, I finally got a really nice CZ 75 with some pre ban/LEO only magazines, which I use as a carry gun..." Then, of course, he wants to know if you have it on you. You do. Then he wants to "see" it (You both know that means "fondle" it). So, you hand it to him. You know he is a safe gun handler, after all, you've hunted P'dogs with him many times. And, maybe he is with a rifle. But, is he with a pistol? How about specifically with a CZ 75 instead of the 1911-A1 which is the only pistol he personally owns or has ever fired other than a Ruger Bearcat? Are you sure you got the one out of the chamber as well as removed the magazine? How do you say no to his son, who it turns out is there with him and now walks up right in the middle of your unloading the gun? By the way, did his arrival distract you any at all? Etc., etc. Probably nothing will happen THIS time, but how about next time? Will none of you EVER err?



That is precisely how a local gun dealer was shot through the hand at a gun show in Klamath Falls this last Spring. A firearm was being shown to one person, among a group which knew each other, and ended up being handed around. The last person to hold it was handing it to the gun dealer when, BOOM. Luckily, he is not a litigious sort, so no one was sued. Also luckily, with all those people crowded into a small hall, no one else was hit. Incidentally, his hand will likely never be the same as it was pre-AD.



Also, as to the "right" to carry, you must have missed my previous post in which I posed the analogy that bringing a loaded gun to a private gun show (and that is what they ALL are, unless sponsored by a public governmental entity), is analagous to bringing your loaded gun to my home. Though you have a right to bring it TO my home, you have no right to bring it INTO my home, unless I give you that right. The government cannot give you dominion to do what you want on MY property, or even on public property during my possession thereof if I have leased it for my use. That has been basic English Common Law for centuries, and I know you would not want it any other way when it concerns YOUR property.



The right to keep and bear arms is a right against GOVERNMENT selectivity, NOT against private rights to control private property and functions, and ingress and egress thereon.



Anyway, IF a gunman starts a berserker event in our gun shows, he will be cut down immediately. By whom? By the 30 or so armed security folk we employ...some in uniform, some in plain clothes. We can allow them to be armed because we KNOW they will not show their guns to anyone, nor let anyone handle their guns, not even themselves, during the show unless there is dire immediate NEED for lethal force to be employed. Note, that is not threat of lethal force, that is actual lethal force. And by security folk, I do NOT mean rent-a-cops. I mean real LEOs, either active duty or retired. Most of them have walked the mean streets of LA or other similar environs and you do NOT want to screw with them except in most obvious jest.



Some of the functions you mentioned ARE public functions and, so long as the purpose of them is not to fondle firearms and thereby exponentially increase the likelihood of an AD, I strongly support your right to "carry' while attending those non-gun-handling events. The hunting one is an event of a third kind, but the object is to kill things, certain designated things, with firearms, and is a publicly licensed and sponsored event. There loaded guns are expected and necessary for the event to transpire. (And "playing" with them during the exercise of that event is often not a good or acceptable idea depending on the proximity of others.)



Anyway, you will be as safe as is reasonably possible at our shows, if some idiot does not manage to carry in a loaded firearm and accidentally shoot you. And if he does, and we failed to check him on the way in for loaded weapons...then your heirs will probably rightfully sue us.



Best wishes,



AC

The pre 64 Win 70 .243 with Leupold that my friend got for $400 Saturday at the gunshow is shooting 1 moa groups.



But I should hasten to add, he and I are advanced gun show shoppers. Remember it is allot like going fishing, and those that go allot often have greater skills.



What does it all mean?

Gunshows DON'T suck.



Also,

On carrying loaded guns into the show:

The show is different from carrying into the park.

In the park, if you pull out your piece, you get arrested.

In the show, 20,000 guns are already out, and the loaded gun looks just like an unloaded gun.

Paul Barnard: Pardon my slow reply to your paranoia compelled posting! I have been away on two major Big Game Safaris.

If you think taking every possible precaution to ensure the safety of Gunshow attendees is IN ANY WAY comparable to "DISARMING AMERICA" then you had better immediately seek medical advice for your mental health problems!

I am serious - go to a Doctor you trust (if you can trust any?) and explain your mental status and seek theraputic advice as soon as possible!

Nothing speedy about my refering to "fucking stupid" people as being "fucking stupid" at all. Once YOU assume "fucking stupid" status and loaded firearms are involved - I take action! Among other things I will let folks around YOU know you are "fucking stupid" if and when YOU attain that status!

You are "fucking stupid" if you think you HAVE TO carry a loaded weapon in a cement building full of people packed shoulder to shoulder all of whom want to handle and aim every Gun they can get their hands on!

You, Paul Barnard, have expressed your paranoia and opinion to the point of certainly attaining "fucking stupid" status!

You therefore are "fucking stupid" and I consider it a public service to warn others about you and your mental state and decision making ability!

Nothing speedy again there - just rational, based on EXPERIENCE and COMMON SENSE, reality based, observations on my part.

And thank you for the well wishes on my continuing happiness with attending Gunshows! SAFE Gunshows where all in attendance can seek out those "good deals" and enjoy our right to keep and bear (collect!) arms!

Let me simply ignore your paranoic driven references to other scenarios where one might carry concealed! They have no bearing in this discussion what so ever. For 29 years I was REQUIRED to carry concealed AT ALL TIMES! And to tell the truth there were times when I would have preferred not to have had to carry!

In a sane and rational view (something you may not be capable of?), a Gun owner who wishes to carry concealed still has the obligation to decide when and where its appropriate to carry concealed. And there are times when safety (and many lesser factors!) enter into the decision to carry concealed. Like when entering a private fucntion or premise where the terms of entrance preclude loaded armament! Etc etc etc.

How about taking your saturday night special to your daughters volleyball game down at the high school? Do you have a right to carry on that premise (in the school gym)? Does a paranoic (like yourself!) NEED to carry his 45 auto into that scenario?

Now this scenario I pose (with relevency by the way) to illustrate that safety and yes sometimes restrictions will help one make a sane, rational and compliant (legal!) choice regarding concealed carry.

And for any and all rational types that read this response of mine to your specious (worthless and without merit) arguments in your previous posting, I am a 4 decade+ worker for and supporter of the Second Amendment!

And as an Endowment Member of the NRA I did not even think twice when I was sought out for and volunteered to do security duty at the last National Rifle Associations Annual Meeting in Seattle, Washington (1997?) wherein my main responsibility was making sure ALL Guns at that meeting were UNLOADED and that Guns on display there where rendered incapable of firing a bullet - even if loaded!

I never heard a rational complaint (nor even an irrational one - like yours!) during that nearly week long event (including setup before and takedown after along with the members meeting and the boards meeting and counting the money when the public had left!) by anyone. It would just have been to dangerous for the attendees to have some loaded and some unloaded arms in that cement building!

Get back to the unavoidable facet of humanality and safety - a loaded Gun in that incredibly densely populated (by humans!) venue where everyone wanted to handle every firearm there was just (and justifiably) out of the question! The meeting went off without a hitch!

Yes Paul I have both volunteered to and sought out the chance to be PAID to make decisions that kept people safe! None of your paranoic arguments even come close to making a sensible argument to put peoples lives in danger when it can so easily and righteously be avoided.

Its to bad that you disagree but absolute safety is paramount when dealing with firearms and environments where so many things are going on and so many things CAN go wrong (i.e. when a human makes a mistake!).

Please reconsider your irrational stance!

Paul your rights have not been temporarily or permanently infringed upon in any unconstitutional manner! The Supreme Court Of The United States has ruled on that! So your hilarious irrationalization and your ineffective attempt at sensationalizing in your last posting serves no rational purpose! Your right to keep and bear arms is alive and well and basing a policy on the utmost in gun safety one would think would be endorsed by gun types like yourself and not derided!

Hhmmm.. puzzling in a way your irrationality?

Paul considering your illustrated and proven irrational state of mind please answer my previous question "if YOU don't mind"? What do you fear so pervasively is gonna befall you at your local Gunshow? Do you fear the ex-con biker making you his bitch in the bathroom more than some other felonious situation or do you fear "liability" more than safety. Yes liability is a factor that must be considered in attending or promoting a Gunshow but the ultimate in all around human life safety is about 100 times more important in the real world. Now remember before you answer I have attended Gunshows for more than 40 years and in all the western states and many in Canada and I have yet to hear of a single felony being perpetrated inside a Gunshow! Please dispose somehow of your paranoia.

If you choose not to make reality based decisions in todays real world, then I am glad you are not making decisions that affect me and my family!

Hold into the wind

VarmintGuy

I went to a Gun Show in Hutchinson a few years ago and someone pointed an unloaded rifle to the ceiling and when they pulled the trigger it went BANG real loud. After I got up off the floor and after they did an immediate investigation they said over the loud speaker it was a blank. I question this in my mind but even a blank at close range can do serious damage or even cause death. I was shot in the arm years ago by my stupid ass cousin with my 12ga shot gun while quail hunting. It wasn't any dam fun and I was lucky I was not killed. It makes me extremely uneasy when some dam idiot at the gun shows pick up a firearm and start swinging it all around with out any regard to the muzzle. It is always the empty gun that kills someone and after reading your post I now agree nobody should be carrying a loaded firearm into a Gun Show unless they are an officer of the law IMHO.

Sputster -



When you come home from beer country (LOVE that real Pilsner), don't pass by gun shows just because of what you have read here. There are probably almost as many good gun shows as there were in the "good old days", maybe even more.



Problem is, there are probably 5-to-10 times as many total number of gun shows than there used to be...with only about the same number of good ones, net.



So, you have to be more selective (and a bit more experienced) than you used to, to sort out the good shows from the bad.



And, as there are many times more gun magazines, there are more folks who know if they have something desirable and are unwilling to give away a jewel for $.20 on the $1...and more folks looking for those jewels.



What does that all say? There are still lots of good buys out there. You just have to be a little sharper to find them than you used to...and you have to work a little harder at it. And like always, Money talks, BS walks. If you know what you want, what is a good buy, have a bit of patience, and are willing to back your hopes with your green, you'll do just fine.



Best wishes,



Alberta Canuck