It is no secret that Americans are obsessed with firearms. The right to keep and bear arms has been a part of the American way for well over 200 years.
The greatest way to strengthen an American tradition is to threaten it. With all the hype about gun control, gun sales have soared and so has attendance at gun shows.
I recently attended my first gun show at the St. Charles, Missouri Convention Center. I visited the show largely out of curiosity. I wanted to see, firsthand what all the hoopla was about gun shows. It only took minutes to find the answers.
I have attended lots of outdoor shows over the years, but I have never experienced anything like the gun show. People were their to buy and sell guns and accessories. An aura hung over the crowd, as if to say, ”We will show them.”
I eavesdropped on many conversations. The general theme of gab sessions centered on the possibility of new gun controls being instituted. One young gentleman told me that he didn’t even want a gun. He was buying a semi-auto rifle because he was afraid he might be told soon that he could not have one. “I am simply exercising my current rights to own a gun,” he said.
Chris Hoelscher, of H and H Manufacturing, in Arnold, Mo., stated that most people were looking far an AR type weapon. “Sales of AR’s are very good,” Hoelscher stated. “Our biggest problem is the shortage of components to build guns. Prices have skyrocketed as demand for components has increased.”
As far possible gun bans, Hoelscher feels that bans will be very limited if there are any at all. Americans love their guns and gun lovers are organizing all across the country to stand for their rights.
Gary Davis, of St. Louis, has used ARs for over 30 years. With a law enforcement background he loves his ARs for both target shooting and deer hunting. His favorite caliber is a .308.
Jerry Downing, of Jerry’s Guns and Ammo at Lake of the Ozarks, said that handgun sales had increased slightly, with the 9mm being the favored caliber. “People like the 9mm for home defense and target shooting because ammunition for it is much cheaper than a lot of the bigger guns.”
Many AR fans were lamenting the shortage of magazines for their black guns. However, there is no better place to find out what is going on in the gun world than at a gun show. I only asked a couple of vendors about the magazine shortage until I found a remedy.
An Israeli magazine factory, called E-Lander, is working around the clock to provide AR-15 magazines.
Free enterprise is a wonderful tool. Where there is a demand someone will find a way to fill it.
Gun shows are a great place to find about any type of legal gun you can imagine. And the stories you hear from long time gun lovers are astounding. However, don’t expect to travel quickly through a gun show. They have the densest crowds of any sports show I have ever attended.
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