Gun Shows
--All photos taken at the April 2012
North Florida Gun Show
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North Florida Gun Show
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Ranger will share this tour d'espirit of the most recent Tallahassee Florida gun show, walking the beat so you don't have to.
Imagine being a delegate at the Republican convention, then turning several clicks to the right. Then turn the dial 'til it is at its right-most setting, and you have the basic spread attending these shows. The American Civil Liberties Union does not have a membership table at the gun show (though they would probably defend the rights of these citizens, too.)
Prior to 1990, gunshows were places for collectors and enthusiasts. However, that quaint appreciation for the gun-as-craft has largely passed by these type of general shows; it is only to be seen at the occasional special collector's convention. If the government wanted to address the issue they could simply outlaw off premises use of FFL dealers.
One wonders why this is not done since it is simple and legal. It would remove the aura of the Kill Your Neighbor fervor which presently dominates the scene, returning gun collecting to a position of acceptability.
Imagine being a delegate at the Republican convention, then turning several clicks to the right. Then turn the dial 'til it is at its right-most setting, and you have the basic spread attending these shows. The American Civil Liberties Union does not have a membership table at the gun show (though they would probably defend the rights of these citizens, too.)
As a gun show denizen for 50 years, Ranger notices a hard turn from collectors of curios and relics towards Chinese arms bazaar dealers of Kill Your Neighbor high capacity rifles and pistols. The trend began around 1989-90, when Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) allowed the Federal Firearms License (FFL) dealers to use their licenses off premises, transforming these erstwhile collectors events into another commercial venture.
Prior to 1990, gunshows were places for collectors and enthusiasts. However, that quaint appreciation for the gun-as-craft has largely passed by these type of general shows; it is only to be seen at the occasional special collector's convention. If the government wanted to address the issue they could simply outlaw off premises use of FFL dealers.
One wonders why this is not done since it is simple and legal. It would remove the aura of the Kill Your Neighbor fervor which presently dominates the scene, returning gun collecting to a position of acceptability.
Do the Right wing nuts ever stop to think about the people around them when they wallow in their apocalyptic visions? If society descended into anarchy, all the folks at the show would be armed and dangerous . . . does anyone consider that?
Classes for the Concealed Carry Weapons (CCW) permit were big business at the show. While they criticize government encroachment, they make big bucks off of the CCW laws. The classes run $145, exclusive of the actual state cost to apply for the permit. The class is two hours, and is given twice per day of show. At 40 heads per class over two days, that over $23,000 take per show.
Dialog over the issue of guns is as convoluted, emotional and often nonsensical as an episode of Survivor.
Labels: gun collecting, gun shows, guns, kill your neighbor guns
posted by rangeragainstwar at 8:16 PM
23 Comments:
I'll be honest; I don't get it and never have.
To me a weapon is a machine. Some are more useful than others, some are even satisfying, in the way that anything that is well designed and works well is satisfying. I like to eat wild game, so I like to hunt, so I appreciate a well-crafted hunting rifle or shotgun. Although I don't do it much (because it's expensive and the ranges are a bit of a hike) I enjoy shooting trap, skeet, and clays. Rifle marksmanship is, frankly, a bore; I appreciate it as a skill and worked hard at it when I needed it (as a soldier). Now that I'm retired and no longer hunt deer or elk I have no interest in shooting rifle for sport.
And handguns, to me, are purely kid's stuff. I don't want to go hunting pig with a pistol, have no interest in lugging around a hogleg on the random chance that someone will mug me before I have a chance to drop the thing out of my pocket or have it stolen. Pistol shooting, again, is like work; when I was assigned a .45 I worked at it and was good at it.
To me the entire business of getting all excited about firearms seems...bizarre. It strikes me as weird as getting all freaky about can openers or band saws. They're machines, they do a job, they either work well (in which case, fine, they're good machines) or they don't, in which case who need's 'em?
I don't get it.
"Babe In Arms"?
What's with reactionaries and accidental sexism?
Hi Jim,
"If society descended into anarchy…"
Descended? I think anarchy would be an ascent.
Americans pride themselves on their "freedom", but anarchy is ultimate freedom. How free do ya wanna be?
I've only been to one gun show, but I thought the bumper stickers were the best part. Thanks for cutting to the chase and saving me a long walk.
Dave
Chief,
I get the gun thing-what i don't understand is the frenzied nature of the hatred expressed in the scene.
I preach that soldiers must have humanity, and this MUST apply to gunnies also.
jim
Dave, who needs a college degree in lit.
I just read bumper stickers instead of solid lit.
I think bumper stickers and the bible were written by the same dude.
jim
Dave,
the dude that sells the T shirts-beware of liberahls.
I asked him if he ever served in the military or in combat.
His answer was =NO.
My reply was- i'm a liberal and i did-so whose the pretender here?
No reply. He walked away.
Fuck these ass holes.
jim
I gotta ask, when you go to these gun shows, how many black faces do you see there? Brown, yellow?
The reason I ask is the latest outrage to pop up, a black woman uses a firearm to protect herself and is sentenced to 20 years.
http://crooksandliars.com/nicole-belle/stand-your-ground-only-if-youre-white
Or am I missing something?
bb
And avedis, a decent and honorable fellow by all accounts, gets snagged for making an honest mistake.
pisses me off no end, this gun fetish and the laws surrounding it.
bb
BB,
there are a lot of non-whites at gun shows, but i will not racially profile as it's unconstitutional.
jim
Don't know what happened with my link there. Wish there was an "edit" function in the Blogger software.
Some may have already knew what I was talking about.
bb, I am past my bout of self pity. Assuming I did what I am alleged to have done, it would have been with the full knowledge that a permit was required to be legal. I had no idea that 31/2 years would be the sought after penalty for not having the permit, but that would have been carelessness on my part too. Should have checked it out.
Agree with Chief that guns are tools; not fetishes. Which, not being a collector, is why I have never been to a gun show even when I lived in states that had these events on a regular basis. Disagree with chief on the handgun thing. Every horse shipper or trucker I know has one in the cab. A highway rest area at night or a wrong turn in certain US cities can put you in a situation where that tool just might be the right one to save your life.
avedis
Thing is, jim, that I wonder if the hate and the excessive luuuuuurving of a hunk of machined steel are somehow related? Like I said, I honestly don't get it, so me trying to figure this out is like going to a Byelorussian interpretive dance and trying to guess the story.
But it would seem when you go from a simple appreciation for a useful tool to making it some sort of passionate love affair you're stepping off into some pretty deep water. Why shouldn't that include some pretty out-there political/social ways of thinking, too? I think a lot of liberals who shoot are like me; we look at it like any other sport. But with these gunnies I'm guessing it's more like the sort of people (and they'd probably hate the comparison) that you run into dressed up like stormtroopers or Japanese animation characters at the San Diego Comic convention. There's a fair degree of whack there to begin with. Graft that on to an NRA/gun "culture" that's been pretty right wing sinc the old American Legion days, and...
But I honestly don't understand these characters, so YMMV...
avedis: my contempt for handguns comes from having seen too many people 1) carry them without practicing with them regularly and being capable of using them effectively, and 2) use them ineffectively even when trained.
ISTM that packing a pistol is more likely to give you just enough confidence to convince you to do something reckless and stupid, like that neighborhood watch guy that capped the Martin kid.
If I really thought that the world was that scary that I needed to fight off gangbangers after making a wrong turn I'd carry a double-barrel sawed-off. Easy to carry, simple to use, and good to sweeping the street in a pinch.
But, honestly, I don't think the world is THAT scary. Yet...
Mentioning Martin, seen the "Trayvon" targets that sold out in a jiffy?
Jim, I can count the times I've been to gun shows on the fingers of one hand, and still have fingers to spare.
I asked for purely educational purposes only. :)
So avedis, since it was an alleged dishonest mistake, I wish for you a long and happy period of probation, very small fine and a gently slap on the wrist.
( so hard to deal with these super honest types :D )
bb
! would add to your post, jim, that I don't believe that simply going to a gun show is proof of racism or hatred of liberals.
I will say that a fisherman selects the proper bait for the fish he's out to catch. I am more fishing fetishist than gun fetishist, and can speak with some authority there.
However, pity the poor fisherman who goes out fishing for nice bass and finds himself with a big hungry toothy shark hanging off his arm.
bb
Yes indeed, the gun nuts are an interesting breed.
1. I had one friend who had guns in every room of his house (yes, including the bathrooms) for "protection." It was all I could do not to say "if the neighborhood is that bad, just move."
2. Try explaining to one of them that when the SWAT team comes, knowing he is a gun nut, there will be plenty of them and they won't be forgiving of "threats" like trying to surrender.
3. Try to explain that when the apocolypse does come, the gun nuts just get to starve to death last.
To Chief primarily, but to all esp. Avedis.
There are two types of people. Those that are into life , even if it's animals. This is their devotion, then there are people into things.
Things are more important than peeples.Avedis as a horse person is oriented to life.
Gunnies usually are totally into things and life is a secondary hobby.
Avedis-why didn't you disavow right up front. Hell man you were a Marine and you know how to play dumb. I wouldda said- that's not my gun!!Never saw it before! I use Amurican made guns! End of story.
My friend did 19 months for a offense similar to your scenario.
jim
What an interesting thread to follow:-)
I hate guns...Shot enough of them and seen what they can do to last several lifetimes...
That does not mean I don't respect your right to have one... I just don't waste time with folks who have one for the wrong reasons...
William Ranger Hazen
RWH,
Since i'm approaching enlightenment i no longer use the word HATE.
jim
WRHazen,
When I even think of the word "hate", my chakras get out of alignment.
Funny... I hate tomatoes too and that has never affected my chakra alignment.;)
Since I teach the art of peace aka Aikido I tell students that in my experience that it is not hate that is wrong but expressing that hatred with malice towards others that screws up the old chakras.
WRH,
Like you, I find tomatoes horrid, but I've made my peace: Marinara, sun-dried, Campari or grape -- those are all acceptable. A good tomato rubbed on bruschetta with good olive oil and feta is heavenly, but bad tomatoes are verboten.
Mealy pink grocery store are reviled, poor things.
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