The hands-on aspect of gun shows is a major reason why many people go. Recently I was considering a new carry gun purchase, but my LGSs don't have the ones I wanted to fondle. I figured somebody at the next show probably would. I avoided making a several hundred dollar mistake by going to that show where I was able to examine, hold, etc. and then decide against a number of super-compact 9mm pistols, one of which I was almost certain to buy had I not learned that they all felt tiny and un-secure in my hand. I spent a few hours holding, pricing, asking questions, considering...but in the end I bought none of them.
Of course, I was informed. I was aware that those gun show vendors were just there looking for easy marks [sound of sarcasm detector beeping, arrow pointed at beatledog7], to get me to spend more money for a gun than I could manage by going to my LGSs (who might not have one in stock for 6 months and can't get their distributor to move any faster) or ordering on line (and paying shipping and transfer fees for a firearm I've never been able to handle).
Funny though, not a single one of those dealers pressured me into buying that day. They seemed to sense that I knew that by applying patience I could obtain the same gun for a better price, and they didn't try to convince me otherwise. But they didn't need to. Folks were lined up at every table with guns in hand, hang-tags blaring out "rip-off" prices, ready to have their CCs swiped. I suspect many of those people were uninitiated into the world of purchasing firearms and were thus unaware of other buying options. But those vendors provided them a service that they wanted and were willing to pay for: they went there to buy, and the seller had the gun they wanted, right there, right then, and at a price that met their pain threshold. Seller and buyer agreed to exchange xx dollars for a gun. That's free enterprise.
Did some buyers later learn that the same gun could be had for less money? Probably. Who among us has never bought something on Saturday only to learn on Monday that we could have paid less? Call it a learning curve.
I didn't see anybody twisting any arms that day. The jerky sellers were pretty in-your-face, and some buyers were pretty obnoxious, but the major, multi-table firearms dealers were just quietly moving guns at their posted prices. Those crooks! [sarcasm detector again]