(1/22/2012: This page, for whatever reason, seems to place higher on Google than the show’s own site. If you want current dates and locations, please go seetheir site.)
Oh…. My…. God….
I’ve been reading stories on various gun forums about gun shows being mobbed as we cling to our guns in the days before the coming of The Bringer of Light. Nothing you read can prepare you for the reality.
The Lexington Guns and Knife Show is a small show as such things go. There are probably 50ish vendors; maybe 150 or so tables. I’ve always liked it because it’s closer to home than Hickory (another favorite of mine), Charlotte, Greensboro or Raleigh. It was recently bought by a guy I know, and he’s made some huge changes. Gone is the junk; back are the guns, knives, ammo, reloading supplies and all the other things a gun show ought to have. I will note he has kept the one obligatory beef jerky vendor, and added one nice husband-wife team who sell the most delicious snack items you can buy outside a gourmet snack place. The food vendor, located outside, are also quite tasty–those ladies cook some mean pintos.
Also, being smaller, it’s usually not so crowded and is thus easier to navigate.
Not today.
The opening line stretched the length of the building and across the back, a distance of 300′ or so. I arrived around 10:30, so the line had worked it’s way through–only a 100′ or so long. As is always the case at these events, the line was orderly and the conversation was…lively.
Note to The Bringer of Light–you have no fanboys at gun shows. You have no fans at gun shows. You have no one who even so much as approves of you as far as I can tell. Most definately, no one trusts you or your cohorts with our guns, our money or our freedom. In short, there is much anti-Obama sentiment. I Hope that doesn’t harm your self-esteem or anything.
My full posse was in attendance–Old Friend and his son, Old Friend’s Older Brother and his Significant Other, Old Friend’s Little Brother and his son, about half of my gun club, several folks from work and a couple of neighbors. Them, and most of the rest of the population of Davidson and Randolph counties, or so it seemed.
Business was brisk. Contrary to many reports, ammo was readily available, as were AR and AK pattern rifles. So were many high-power sniper hunting rifles, shotguns of all descriptions, pistols, bayonets and so on. Prices on rifle ammo were variable–.223, .308 and 7.62×39 were up slightly over my last show, most others were about where I remembered. Ammo in pistol calibers was all over the map, with prices from good to unreal. Prices on ARs were mostly up–20-50%. Given that folks like Jim Shepherd of The Shooting Wire have reported that manufacturers have not increased prices so far, I decided to leave them to the desperate, even though I would like to have just one more. Prices on AK-pattern guns were up 10% or so, and pistols were pretty much where they should have been, except for one vendor. He was very proud of his guns, but oddly enough, he wasn’t selling many of them.
Magazines were available for nearly anything you could think of, at prices ranging from average to rip-off.
All in all, careful shopping and lots of communication between members of the group paid off with some good deals.
Old Friend bought a Taurus 1911, Hogue grips and ammo. Older Brother bought a wonderful Springfield 1903 with all matching serial numbers for a song. Bastard. If I had seen it first, he would have never got a sniff.
As an interesting sidebar, that ’03 was bought in the parking lot, using the infamous “gun show loophole”. You know, a private transaction between two willing sellers in a state where such things are legal? There was a lot of this sort of unregulated commerce going on. I hope it caused Sarah Brady to wet herself.
I got a holster for my Kel-Tec PF-9, quite a bit of .38 Special and .357 magnum ammo (the prices were excellent, as such things go today), powder and primers. I passed on the tasty snacks–Christmas has added several unneeded pounds to my body and I need to see if I can show them the door.
All in all, a productive and highly interesting day.
(Edit, 1/10/2008 21:29: added some more thoughts.)