Went to a gun show...

[monotonous_iterancy]

Over the summer I went to a gun show. The guns were nice, the atmosphere was friendly, and accessories were plentiful. I picked up some goodies.

Yet among the typical stuff - guns, knives, gold & silver, etc. were several snake-oil peddlers. One sold "essential oils", another sold a hologram bracelet which supposedly reacts with "ions in the blood" and cured the migraines of the sales lady. The wackiest was "colloidal silver", a mixture of water and silver which supposedly cures just about everything when you drink it, even ailments that have nothing to do with each other. The guy at the table said it healed his spider bite.

All three were husband and wife teams, all of them peddled nonsense.

What exactly makes charlatans like this show up at gun shows? Is there something about them that attracts these characters?

 

[200Apples]

All three were husband and wife teams, all of them peddled nonsense.

Hahaha.... I agree with you in this regard (although I do pay equal attention to traditional medicine and pharmaceutical medicine...). Your observation is too funny.

They're there to make a buck. They're there because! there's a sucker born every minute.

 

[blarby]

FWIW, colloidal silver DOES have some real, and useful, properties.

 

[monotonous_iterancy]

They're there to make a buck. They're there because! there's a sucker born every minute.

But is there something about gun culture or people into guns which attracts those people? Are some of us more gullible?

FWIW, colloidal silver DOES have some real, and useful, properties.

Really? According to the wikipedia, drinking it can cause aygria which turns the skin blue.

 

[GarySTL]

Yeah, don't drink it, but it does have antifungal properties and other uses.
http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-suppl...tid=779&activeingredientname=colloidal silver

 

[200Apples]

.

But is there something about gun culture or people into guns which attracts those people? Are some of us more gullible?

That's debatable. Hahaha...

Seriously, these same types you mentioned are selling stuff everywhere... including your neighborhood's "farmers market".

 

[medalguy]

They are there because they are selling a product that some people will buy. And they are there because gun show promoters are having a hard time filling up the venue with genuine gun & knife dealers. They have tables to sell, and these people buy some of their tables. Simple as that.

You will see these same folks hawking their wares at craft shows, pet shows, car shows, just about anywhere lots of people congregate.

Those who complain that gun shows are worthless and say they won't go are the biggest reason gun shows have a hard time filling up the tables with real dealers. That and the huge costs of travelling to a gun show and paying for hotels, meals, and gasoline.

 

[Warp]

Anywhere people gather to exchange goods, there are those trying to peddle their wares.

Although nothing is quite so bad as a popular destination for well-off foreign tourists

 

[jerkface11]

Colloidal silver can kill fungi and bacteria. It can also turn you into a smurf.

 

[Twiki357]

medalguy: You will see these same folks hawking their wares at craft shows, pet shows, car shows, just about anywhere lots of people congregate.

That pretty much sums it up.

 

[lxd55]

people buy tables, then HOPE they sell enough to pay for it.
don't like it don't buy it.
did you shop for a snake oil tv?
one has this does this, one doesn't. same thing.

 

[Davek1977]

You find such booths at any large trade show, be it guns, ranch equipment, farm shows, home shows, whatever.....the reason they are there is there are people there. Thats why they set up mall kiosks, thats why you find such people in the halls of Vegas casinos.....they simply go where there's traffic. More people=better chance of a share of them being suckers.

 

[nickndfl]

I scored some magic beans at a gun show in a trade for a mint Colt revolver. Do you think I got a good deal?

 

[Lex Luthier]

There should only be gun/ gun accessories vendors at gun shows. Anything else detracts from the spirit of the event.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

What exactly makes charlatans like this show up at gun shows?

I see the same ones at gun shows, and motorcylce shows. They just show up to every even trying to sell crap. My guess is they have a space rented for every event in the event center each year.

It's a free country. Just walk on past.

 

[commygun]

"don't like it don't buy it."

That's fine put I paid for admission to a gun show, not a flea market.

 

[grogetr]

I had to laugh a little at this. My mother in law owns a nutrition store and my wife runs it. They sell quite a bit of that kind of stuff. I always tell her she deals in frog toes and bat lips. lol

 

[Arkansas Paul]

If they're not selling firearms or firearms accessories, I don't even slow down when passing the table. Well, except for the jerky table. I'm a sucker for good jerky.

 

[Ryanxia]

If they're not selling firearms or firearms accessories, I don't even slow down when passing the table. Well, except for the jerky table. I'm a sucker for good jerky.

I wish we had a jerky table at ours, I'd scoff that up too

I'm going out on a limb but I would think with gun enthusiasts there could be a higher chance of self sufficient / self sustainable people, and they may be a little more open to some of the 'natural medicines', but I dunno.

 

[Jorg Nysgerrig]

Are some of us more gullible?

Most.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

I always tell her she deals in frog toes and bat lips. lol

LOL! That's funny as hell!

 

[Potatohead]

This is a funny thread.

My take is that I guess we know what hippies do when they grow up...

 

[Mojo-jo-jo]

The show promoter in my area only permits guns/kinfe/hunting/militaria at the shows. It does improve the experience. It keeps out both the fleas and the skinheads.

 

[Pyzon]

Where else can you get your diabetic socks ?

 

[tickfarm]

I kinda like them being there. I bought a neat tin foil hat from one of them.