I will NEVER go to another gun show again

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So much of this is about the organizers, those that enforce ALL guns must be zip tied open, all guns must be double checked and tied on entry, etc. can be much safer, the ones where they have just anyone walking aroun carrying guns, no checking at the door, etc. those are the ones where accidents are more likely to happen, because the simple truth is with so many guns and so many people in such a dense space there is no such thing as a safe direction.
 
I have been going to guns shows, lots of them, for the past 10 years. The best is the Wannenmacher in Tulsa. For those of you who have never been there, it happens twice a year and has over 4,000 tables. The crowds are huge with many thousand guns on display, handled, shouldered, and carried about. Have I seen unwise behavior? Sure. But, but compared to other activities like driving, flying, eating motel food, going to football games, even bathing; guns shows are safer. I rarely feel such freedom and safety as I do at the Tulsa Gun Show. I love being around other gun enthusiasts.
 
If the local fire officials saw the crowd at this past weekend's show in Hilliard, OH (NW Columbus) I guarantee he would have crapped his pants. Wall to wall crowds is an understatement. Not many good deals or quality sellers, as usual at this show, but guns were flying off the tables nonetheless. Way too many people to feel safe though.
 
mopar92 said:
I went to the Franklin Tn AG center show this morning. $10 was ok... There were some very reasonable dealers and then some stealers. As to be expected. I guess the reason I won't go to another show is pretty simple, safety. Indoor ranges are bad enough, but this is about the 5th gun show for me in about 16 months time. Right off the bat, before the show even started, a guy getting an SKS out of a car muzzle swept my friend and I. He unloaded the rifle AFTER he swept us pretty good.. standing in the first 200 people to get there, a guy behind us somewhere said " oh crap, and unloaded his Ruger Blackhawk. His buddy had a Glock Magazine that was full, and per the sign " no loaded magazines", he took it to the car. Well, the entire line of folks bringing in their long guns had NOT been chamber checked by the show admins... I know I am sounding like a gun grabber, which I am clearly not. So much muzzle sweeping and mishandling of guns it wasn't even funny anymore. Once inside, muzzle sweeping left and right. Some wank was testing an Eotech and was shouldering an 870 and pointing it all over the place... We made our rounds, bought a few things, and got the hell out of there. I have never been to a gun show that instructed some sort of code of conduct about weapons. In my opinion, they need to be patrol carried and stop aiming at people walking around. Are all gun shows this negligent? As gun owners, and right to bear arms Americans, in general, we need to enlighten some people about general gun safety and awareness. I am proud to be a gun owner, and you should be too, but not what I have been seeing at these shows. I really mean it this time, no more shows... I really mean it.... Hope nobody gets hurt.... Take care.
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I've been to many gun shows here in Arizona.

I have not yet seen a clearing barrel anywhere near one.

I have one at my front door.
 
GBExpat said:
I gave up on the local Gun Shows about a decade ago... but not because I ever experienced any dangerous/negligent behavior.

I found that the actual firearms & related selection had gone down, the prices had gone UP, the average Gun-IQ appeared to have noticeably dropped and the carpark was full of Beemers (probably one of the reasons for the prices going up).

It had changed enough that any enjoyment I derived failed to, at least, equal the hassle of attending the thing, so ...

The most enjoyable show I ever attended was in Medina, OH in 1988(89?). I still have the fine .44 Marlin 1894 that I found there. :)
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Hey, I have a BMW, and an extremely nice one too.

It's also 12 years old, I bought it used at a bargain price because it was broken, fixed it myself and do most of the maintenance myself. It was originally a $75K car in Jan. 2000.

So don't assume, project or stereotype too much, eh?
 
I've never taken a firearm to a gun show. But all the ones I've been to (last one was over 10 years ago), all incoming firearms were verified free and clear and then cable tagged at the door before entering.

Knowing the process for checking a weapon free and clear, I do this BEFORE getting to the gun show. When I walk up to the door, the magazine is already out and the slide locked back.

I do NOT want any other person (including law enforcement at the door) handling my firearm before I've already verifed it free and clear, with the slide locked back. Nor do I want to contribute to a crowd of hundreds of people who may be in line, each potentially with a weapon that must be checked free and clear before entering.

We all know that the most dangerous routine handling time for a weapon is the part where you unload it.

Add to that the fact the you absolutely cannot get large groups of people together and get them ALL to follow even the simplest of directions EXACTLY as stated and ONLY when they're told. You'll ALWAYs have those numb***s in line somewhere who simply cannot wait to get to the clear area at the door where they're supposed to have their weapons verified free and clear and cable tagged. Doing this in a crowd of people on all sides is NOT the place to do this...no safe place to point (even down has somebody's toes in the way, not to mention ricochets) and too many distractions and people who can jostle you.


Like driving in traffic with other vehicles flying all about you, this is a time and a place to be extremely vigilant with respect to situational awareness and gun safety.
 
xfyrfiter said:
We usually have 4 shows a year in my area, and I will not attend 2 of them as they want me to unload and ziptie my cc pistol. The other 2 do not care and I have seen much less unsafe gunhandling at the ones I attend. More older guys at the second and put on by and for the benefit of the VFW.
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How do you know it's much less if you dont attend the other ones?
 
thorazine said:
I've never had the desire to attend a gun show... with internet sales and FTF sales from the boards in conjunction with a few decent dealers that I developed a relationship locally in FL I assembled a nice collection.

I just haven't yet went out to try and find a dealer here in PA.

Although I haven't had the urge to buy anything -- yet.
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Apparently you are not a beef jerky fan.

Ah well, to each, his own ;)
 
I rarely bother with gun shows anymore. There are a couple dealers around town that attend all the shows and every so often they will do some good deals at a show. Mostly it isn't worth the $10 or more to get in. I'll only go if I need ammo for a milsurp that I don't want to wait for and even then its a crapshoot if they will have what I want. More than once I've been unable to locate 6.5 Jap.

Makes me want to rechamber the Arisaka for something else. :eek:
 
Well, the gun show ND's happened this week in Indiana, Ohio, and NC... Not TN..
 
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