hobbeeman
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http://www.reporternews.com/news/2010/mar/28/dealers-collectors-show-wares-at-gun-knife-show/
ReporterNews- Abilene Online
Gun enthusiasts from around the state filed through the Abilene Civic Center over the weekend as gun dealers and collectors displayed their firearms, knives and holsters during the Texas Gun and Knife Association show.
Smattered among the rows of rifles, pistols, knives and holsters were other individuals displaying things like jewelry, toys, custom-made gun cases, a few blowgun sets — and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms.
Gun Show promoter Don Hill and his wife, Janice, are from Kerrville, and they have been putting on these types of shows across Texas for about 32 years. Hill normally promotes a show in Abilene three to four times a year.
“The guys at the Abilene Civic Center make my job so much easier,” said Hill. “I really just love Abilene.”
Hill said he estimated 2,000 people were at the show Saturday and about half of that number Sunday. Of those participating, a few hundred would be from out of town. He also added that he thought his shows were good for Abilene’s economy since it brought in traffic from other areas and that those people would need hotel rooms and would be frequenting local restaurants.
While this weekend’s event was about par as far as participation was concerned, Hill said purchases had slowed a little since last year, when the current administration had some gun owners worried what new gun control laws might be passed, thereby driving up the volume of gun and ammunition sales.
But since President Barack Obama took office, little effort has been made to curtail ownership of firearms, and this has put some firearms enthusiasts at ease, Hill said.
“Obama’s probably not going to do anything openly because of public sentiment,” he said.
Jerry Stayton, owner of Jerry’s Gun Shop in Dudley, had one of the larger displays at this gun show, with about 18 tables. He is a federally licensed firearms dealer and he said he has been setting up at the local shows for about 5 years.
“I think some people were doing some panic buying then because they didn’t know what was going to be next,” said Stayton.
Instead of hoarding certain types of ammunition or specific weapons these days, folks were just looking for a little bit of everything.
New to this particular gun show was a table set up by representatives of the Federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, which Hill said, made some participants uncomfortable.
According to Hill, one of his merchants was set up with about 81 firearms. When confronted by the ATF about his status as a federal dealer, the merchant responded that the weapons were part of his personal collection, but that he had filed an application to be a federally licensed dealer.
After the conversation with the ATF, the individual decided to leave.
“If we’re doing something illegal here, why are they letting us do it?” Hill said.
One of the issues unique to the gun show circuit is licensing. One merchant may be set up with a federal dealer’s license, but next to him may be another selling as a personal collector.
The licensed dealer is required by federal law to complete background checks on buyers, whereas the private collector selling his firearms at the next table does not — enabling that merchant to possibly sell a firearm to an individual who is restricted from owning them.
The licensed dealer must also collect sales tax, something the unlicensed dealer is not required to do.
“The ATF is here doing their job, and their main purpose is to make sure the people who walk out of the show with a weapon are supposed to have a weapon,” Stayton said. “I mean, there are a lot of people running around out there with guns who really don’t need to be. That’s why some of the gun shows are getting a bad reputation.”
When asked if setting up a table at gun shows was something new, the ATF representative, who would not divulge her name, said that doing so was customary but that it had never been done in Abilene before. She said the ATF had always had a limited presence at gun shows but that her purpose there was educational only.
Displayed on the ATF table were computer CDs with current gun laws and other educational items, including information about how to become a federally licensed firearms dealer. The ATF representative refused further comment except to reiterate that the ATF’s presence was nothing new and that they were there merely to give out information.
“Not everybody was tickled to see them here,” Stayton said. “But I was.”
ReporterNews- Abilene Online
Gun enthusiasts from around the state filed through the Abilene Civic Center over the weekend as gun dealers and collectors displayed their firearms, knives and holsters during the Texas Gun and Knife Association show.
Smattered among the rows of rifles, pistols, knives and holsters were other individuals displaying things like jewelry, toys, custom-made gun cases, a few blowgun sets — and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms.
Gun Show promoter Don Hill and his wife, Janice, are from Kerrville, and they have been putting on these types of shows across Texas for about 32 years. Hill normally promotes a show in Abilene three to four times a year.
“The guys at the Abilene Civic Center make my job so much easier,” said Hill. “I really just love Abilene.”
Hill said he estimated 2,000 people were at the show Saturday and about half of that number Sunday. Of those participating, a few hundred would be from out of town. He also added that he thought his shows were good for Abilene’s economy since it brought in traffic from other areas and that those people would need hotel rooms and would be frequenting local restaurants.
While this weekend’s event was about par as far as participation was concerned, Hill said purchases had slowed a little since last year, when the current administration had some gun owners worried what new gun control laws might be passed, thereby driving up the volume of gun and ammunition sales.
But since President Barack Obama took office, little effort has been made to curtail ownership of firearms, and this has put some firearms enthusiasts at ease, Hill said.
“Obama’s probably not going to do anything openly because of public sentiment,” he said.
Jerry Stayton, owner of Jerry’s Gun Shop in Dudley, had one of the larger displays at this gun show, with about 18 tables. He is a federally licensed firearms dealer and he said he has been setting up at the local shows for about 5 years.
“I think some people were doing some panic buying then because they didn’t know what was going to be next,” said Stayton.
Instead of hoarding certain types of ammunition or specific weapons these days, folks were just looking for a little bit of everything.
New to this particular gun show was a table set up by representatives of the Federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, which Hill said, made some participants uncomfortable.
According to Hill, one of his merchants was set up with about 81 firearms. When confronted by the ATF about his status as a federal dealer, the merchant responded that the weapons were part of his personal collection, but that he had filed an application to be a federally licensed dealer.
After the conversation with the ATF, the individual decided to leave.
“If we’re doing something illegal here, why are they letting us do it?” Hill said.
One of the issues unique to the gun show circuit is licensing. One merchant may be set up with a federal dealer’s license, but next to him may be another selling as a personal collector.
The licensed dealer is required by federal law to complete background checks on buyers, whereas the private collector selling his firearms at the next table does not — enabling that merchant to possibly sell a firearm to an individual who is restricted from owning them.
The licensed dealer must also collect sales tax, something the unlicensed dealer is not required to do.
“The ATF is here doing their job, and their main purpose is to make sure the people who walk out of the show with a weapon are supposed to have a weapon,” Stayton said. “I mean, there are a lot of people running around out there with guns who really don’t need to be. That’s why some of the gun shows are getting a bad reputation.”
When asked if setting up a table at gun shows was something new, the ATF representative, who would not divulge her name, said that doing so was customary but that it had never been done in Abilene before. She said the ATF had always had a limited presence at gun shows but that her purpose there was educational only.
Displayed on the ATF table were computer CDs with current gun laws and other educational items, including information about how to become a federally licensed firearms dealer. The ATF representative refused further comment except to reiterate that the ATF’s presence was nothing new and that they were there merely to give out information.
“Not everybody was tickled to see them here,” Stayton said. “But I was.”
