PGCA Gunshow - Your papers, please!

[Beren]

Well folks, I have some sad news and I'm not quite sure how to take it. It seems that the Pennsylvania Gun Collectors Association, the group that organizes a bi-monthly gun show at the Monroeville Expo Mart in Pennsylvania, has adopted a new policy.

They may demand to see valid photo identification before you are allowed entry to the show floor. They were carding just about everyone at last weekend's show, myself included.

Their stated intent, when I privately contacted a member of the PGCA board? "To deter potential felons from attending the show, because potential felons won't want to show I.D."

I remarked that I was offended at being treated as a "potential felon."

Do other shows card you prior to entry? Would you be offended if they did? Would you protest or contact dealers who attend the show to make your objections clear to all?

 

[Joe Demko]

I can't say I care. The PGCA show used to be the best one for miles around, but I quit going after the last one. There is absolutely nothing of interest there for me. Tables of current production guns at gunshop-or-higher-prices, tables full of cheap knives from PRC, a smattering of battered SKS carbines at insane prices, tables and tables and tables full of rusty junque at premium prices, why do I want to pay to browse this? The dealers at that show seem to have an above-average surly quotient, even for gunshows, too. Don't get me started on the customers who apparently make it a point to skip bathing for a couple weeks in advance of the show...
They can, of course, require ID to enter their show. If you don't want to display it, you are free to turn and leave. For my part, I'll shop Gander Mountain, Wally World, and the local gunstores. The PGCA show is an expensive waster of time.

 

[Beren]

I can think of two reasons I'd want to attend:

At least one dealer was offering excellent prices on ammo, and I'd save on shipping charges.

One dealer was offering NIB Glock 40S&W & 9mm caliber pistols for $465.

Neither is enough to get past my anal "Don't wanna show you my friggin' ID" streak, though. I will attempt to go in March. If asked for my ID, I'll refuse. If entry is denied, I'll demand a refund of my entry fee and go someplace else.

 

[GregoryTech]

Are they recording names? If not then I wouldn't care, and it probably won't really do anything anyway. Why would a felon not show an id? Of course, why would a felon buy a gun for full price at a gun show instead of discounted street prices?

*shrug*

 

[Mike Irwin]

Ask to see the person's ID in return.

Say you don't want to potentially show your ID to a possible felon.

Since he won't take your word for it that you're not a felon, you can't be expected to take his word for it.

 

[Art Eatman]

Odds are, whoever dreamed up this idea is thinking of keeping out some non-citizen terrorist. Poorly thought-out, of course. No Bad Guy with any sort of organization behind him would lack an acceptable ID.

And nowhere on a felon's Driver's License does it say "Bad Guy".

For that matter, there's no little box to check on a DL with the description, "Smart".

, Art

 

[Chuck Perry]

May be a show of good faith to keep anti gun show advocates off our backs. On the other hand, could be portrayed by those same people as an admission of guilt on the part of gun show organizers. I'll show my ID; not a big deal in the post 9/11 world.

 

[Ebbtide]

I don't think these folks know anything about felons.

I know several (not by choice, stupid family members) and showing their ID is nothing new. It is not as if there are big red letters on a drivers license that say "FELON".

In all honestly, If I were a felon and needed a gun, I would go to a gun show and use the "loophole" so many people talk about.

Yet as a man who tries to take the high road, I would not want to show my I.D. to anyone associated with a gunshow.

ehenz

 

[Tall Man]

-Ask to see the person's ID in return.
-Say you don't want to potentially show your ID to a possible felon.
-Since he won't take your word for it that you're not a felon, you can't be expected to take his word for it.

Well said, Mike. I like your style.

I'll show my ID; not a big deal in the post 9/11 world.

It's a big deal for those of us who believe that the pre-9/11 world - i.e., an absence of gross assumptions - should still exist.

I am not a terrorist!!

Tall Man

TFL Alumnus

 

[Beren]

In all honestly, If I were a felon and needed a gun, I would go to a gun show and use the "loophole" so many people talk about.

In PA, there is no gun show loophole. Private party handgun transfers require the same state paperwork and background check that are required of those purchasing new guns.

Private party purchases other than handguns require no paperwork, whether you're at a gun show or not.