Garbage at gun shows?

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davinci

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Just over a week ago, went to a gun show that had folks selling cotton candy, candy bars, hot tubs, tires, hot dogs and one fella was selling "Navaho Jewelry" seriously, that's how the sign was spelled, cracked me up.

I thought about taking a card from each of the folks that was there and writing on it "DO NOT BUY FROM" in sharpie right in front of them. There didn't seem to be many folks gathering around those 'booths' but it was unavoidable for the hot tub dealer as they had the center of the arena, which would have been a great place for long guns.

The place smelled like the food court of the mall rather than a gun show. When these events come up, they're about $5 to enter....and I spend all afternoon there in discussion with a vendor or on more than one occasion a fella who's new to guns. I was so disgusted by the spilled nacho cheese on the concrete floor, the smell and the overcrowdedness of the whole thing (from too many booths and not enough walking space, they had display hot tubs that took up a lot more space than i think they expected) that I left after only 30 minutes of browsing, I did not buy a single thing ....not even so much as a magazine.

I am disappointed with the group who hosted this event and have sent them a letter last monday sharing my opinion that when they advertise the event they should call it a swap meet or a discount sale or flea market rather than a gun show in order to keep everything legitimate. I got a reply today in the form of a form letter that stated "We are not able to comply with everyone's requests...and do not issue refunds" I never even asked for a refund of my $5.

I hate to see gun shows being overwhelmed with other garbage, but I guess it adds up to the bottom line for whoever's selling the booth space, hot tubs do take up more room than pistols I guess. I, for one, have made it a goal to never buy anything, ever, from a gun show except for firearms and firearm accessories because I think that a hobby/sport/RIGHT that is firearms related should be seperate from anything corporate like overcrowding an arena with cheesy pretzels, hot tubs and astroturf.
 
I haven't been to lots of gun shows, only three in fact. None was as bad as the one you just "enjoyed!" However, I get your drift, and I agree.

I also think that the chief advantage of gun shows is meeting up with private individuals that have firearms for sale. That's a good way to get a deal, I think.
 
I think any good gun show should have at least:

- one good beef jerky table, or two mediocre beef jerky tables (turkey jerky does not count)
- two or three cheap knife tables
- a couple of tables of assorted, but not sorted, gun parts
- one coin dealer looking kind of lost but doing a land office business
- one military surplus dealer selling mostly old ammo cans
- one dealer with a table that is mostly porn
 
ilbob, what about the table that has stuff with 25 years worth of dust and handling marks because it's just as overpriced now as it was back in 1982?
 
ilbob: never seen a porn dealer at a gun show, but since the majority of the folks there are men, I can see how that makes more sense than a hot tub dealer.

not saying that men shouldn't buy hot tubs, I'm saying that it's not a decision I can make without Mrs. Davinci.
 
The Turner Diaries/food smells/gun shows

I have gone to a few gun shows at the fairgrounds near me(the next is this weekend, ;)). The best one was where a guy came by me and handed me a free pass, :D. Most of the gun shows are trash. I've seen used S&W model 19s with bad nickel jobs passed off as NIB "stainless steel" :rolleyes:. I also witnessed some a-hole claiming to be the author of the Nazi hate rag; The Turner Diaries(I saw the real author interviewed on CBS's 60 Minutes). This goofball was surrounded by some skinhead types and had 3 uniformed FHP troopers guarding him(your state tax $$$ at work, ;)). The "staff" that works the gun show booths do not know Jack #$%* about most firearms and barely understand credit card transactions. :banghead: The display jockeys also go out and buy every disgusting smelly take-out dish available and the grease/odors are hard to take, :barf:. I have seen a few good deals at gun shows but nothing you can't find online.

Rusty S
:cool:
 
I'm glad I'm spoiled here where we have the 1000 table gun show in Chantilly. Yeah there's some "non-firearm" tables, mostly airsoft/jewlery, etc...but most are dealers with huge tables of handguns and longguns. Then there's the tables with books on guns :) And parts tables, and magazine tables, etc.

I did however go to a smaller show in the western part of VA, less tables, but still lots of guns :) (it was run by the same people as the big one in chantilly)

I'm going to check out a different show, a different company's running it but I talked with one of the dealers at the big show and he said the smaller one has lots of good deals and tables of guns, less junk :)

(this guy's gotten my business on 4 separate ocassions...he's a great guy to buy from.)

I've also bought from a few other smaller guy's tables, one that was selling makarovs out of a crate, and then a year later had a nice FEG 9mm I picked up. :)
Then another I got from who just had a small table with one of those glass cases, and found a nice stainless ruger .357 at a great price...great guy too...

Then I bought from another larger dealer's table too when he had the best deal at the show for a particular gun :)



again...I guess I've just been spoiled with all these shows around here :)
 
I went to the Eastman show in Atlanta this weekend. Eastman shows are generally OK since the promoter doesn't allow the Nazi recruitment garbage and very little non gun or knife related stuff. Of course, there is the guy that sells "subversive" literature, but usually nothing outlandish. The biggest problem is the prices--not so good. Ammo is just as high as elsewhere (I can generally order it cheaper) and guns are cheaper at the local shops. I did see some reasonably nice Italian return M1 Carbines for about $550, which is in line with CMP prices--unlike the shops that still want $750 for a carbine.

Surprisingly, I never see jerky at the shows here. Either it's a regional thing or the promoter doesn't allow it...
 
hmm, new reasons that I don't go to gun shows

14. hot tub dealers
15. porn dealers
16. stank of carnie food
17. Neo Nazi's (It's still illegal to $#**+ them, right?)
18. coin dealers who work on the side as real estate agents
19. old, surly, and generally bitter dealers
20. "navaho" natives selling their wares
21. tables of stuff with 25 years worth of dust and handling marks because it's just as overpriced now as it was back in 1982

thanks alot guys, like I needed more reasons.
 
The only real show I go to is the Rose City Gun and knife show and they seem to have pretty good tables. Always a table with cheap ammo cans and cheap other stuff. My current favorite is a table that has been showing up lately with just a 3ft pile of holsters and mag pouches. You find one you like and make him an offer. Its that simple yet people insist on coming up and saying

"I am looking for a holster that will fit my ....." and his response is the same "Thats not how this table works"
 
Correia . . .

I really like the way you write. Someday I'll have to get off my butt and go back to SLC where I came from and still belong.
 
No reason to go to any here in No. CA, used to be a place to find cheap(er) ammo. Nowadays even the beef jerky ain't worth it.

I guess I would start going again if I ever needed to buy some "actually worn in Vietnam" used fatigues (with made in China labels).
 
the Southern CA gun shows I've been too aren't worth the wear and tear on your shoes, unless you're looking for a service, such as a "gun coater" or a true gunsmith makeing sniper rifles... still these guys are few and far between in a huge ware house type building; and stated above, the smell of carnee food, jewlery, cheap airsoft guns and the guys that will tell you, "what you're looking for".

Horrible thing about the CA gun shows, if you find a gun you like; you still have to wait 10 days to get it, that usally means driveing half way accross the state were the FFL is or meeting the FFL latter to do the actual transfer, so far the dealer at the gun show is never the kind of guy I feel like 'meeting' latter to save $25.

I did almost get a good deal on a set of mud tires the last show I was at, but the ATM was down.
 
I've never been to a gun show, but it sounds like computer shows. At one time, they were the bees knees. But now:

I have seen a few good deals at gun shows but nothing you can't find online.
Click to expand...

Online is generally as good a place as any to get stuff.
 
Gentlemen (and ladies), you vote with your dollars. If no one buys hot tubs at the gun show, guess who ain't gonna be there next time? If the people can't make money, they won't come.:D
 
To be sure, gun shows ain't what they used to be, but Navaho is an accepted alternate spelling of Navajo; sort of like varmit (which makes me cringe) for varmint.
 
When I lived in Dallas, I would by all my guns at the Market Hall Show. They had everything and great prices. That was 10 years ago. Don't know if that show has deteriorated like many others sadly have.
 
I can understand nazis and porn and jerky. I mean, nazis and porn actually DO something. I'm not saying it's good, but they actually have a function. A nazi's function is to be a racist moron and porn is to...well, you know.

But what really makes me scratch my head is the truly useless stuff you find at gun shows. For instance, have you seen those rubber guns? I see them at every show I go to, every time. They're just crudely made and sloppily painted toy guns made of rubber.

Who buys that crap?
 
Well, rubber guns are often used for training people how to disarm BG's. So there is a use for them. I would think that most training facilities get their rubber guns from a better source, though.
 
The only thing that I've found truly objectionable at the gun shows is the morons who show up to sell the Nazi memorabilia. Why can't they all just go somewhere nice and quiet and off themselves?
 
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