The first large gun show near Columbus since the passage of Ohio's CCW law was held this weekend. It was a record crowd and the Columbus Dispatch even ran a front page story in today's (Sunday)paper about it, which is surprising and unusual, especially given the article's tone and content and the Disapatch's opposition to passage of the CCW bill.
These shows are usually pretty good and well attended. I've been a regular attendee for the last 3-4 years, but nothing prepared me for the crowds this weekend. I should have expected it given the timing right after the CCW law and the advertised CCW presentation by a local lawyer at the show. Saw many people who looked at bit out of place and heard many comments from people indicating they were new to the whole firearms thing (we've all got to start somewhere and its nice to see new people taking up interest). Lots of well dressed couples and younger professional types. I say this as an observation and not as a criticism. (You have to understand that the show is held on the county fairgrounds in what is essentially an old barn with a dirt/mud floor - which was mostly mud this weekend with the snow/rain. Regulars know how to dress).
The article in the paper was surprisingly even-handed and actually favorable considering the writer's tone (or rather the lack of a negative tone) and the comments from show go-ers that he chose to use.
I'd post a link, but the Dispatch site is pay-for-view, and I don't. The best passage from the article was this:
"Georgia, retired college professor and grandmother of two, remained eager to apply.
Her commitment to self-defense was shaped in the early 1980s, when a man put a shotgun to her head and demanded money while her three school-age children looked on, terrrified.
At the time, she was teaching at the University of Nigeria in the war-torn African nation.
'I didn't get frightened,' the Delaware County woman recalled. 'I was mad. I was furious.'
She vowed never to be a victim again."
These shows are usually pretty good and well attended. I've been a regular attendee for the last 3-4 years, but nothing prepared me for the crowds this weekend. I should have expected it given the timing right after the CCW law and the advertised CCW presentation by a local lawyer at the show. Saw many people who looked at bit out of place and heard many comments from people indicating they were new to the whole firearms thing (we've all got to start somewhere and its nice to see new people taking up interest). Lots of well dressed couples and younger professional types. I say this as an observation and not as a criticism. (You have to understand that the show is held on the county fairgrounds in what is essentially an old barn with a dirt/mud floor - which was mostly mud this weekend with the snow/rain. Regulars know how to dress).
The article in the paper was surprisingly even-handed and actually favorable considering the writer's tone (or rather the lack of a negative tone) and the comments from show go-ers that he chose to use.
I'd post a link, but the Dispatch site is pay-for-view, and I don't. The best passage from the article was this:
"Georgia, retired college professor and grandmother of two, remained eager to apply.
Her commitment to self-defense was shaped in the early 1980s, when a man put a shotgun to her head and demanded money while her three school-age children looked on, terrrified.
At the time, she was teaching at the University of Nigeria in the war-torn African nation.
'I didn't get frightened,' the Delaware County woman recalled. 'I was mad. I was furious.'
She vowed never to be a victim again."
