Gun show madness

This morning I went to a gun show in Murfreesboro, TN.  It was absolutely packed, so much so that moving around was an exercise in frustration, negotiating tiny gaps between groups of people, and squeezing past those standing at tables examining firearms and other goodies.  The parking lot was full to overflowing, and cars lined the street for half a mile in either direction.  Other businesses nearby were complaining about their parking lots being taken over by gun show attendees.  Some did more than complain - they called in tow companies, and the gun show was constantly interrupted by broadcast reminders not to park in front of certain businesses, or advising the owner of a vehicle with a given registration number that if it wasn't moved within the next five minutes, it was going to be towed.

The show may have been crowded, but there wasn't too much trading going on.  People were looking rather than buying.  The vendors I knew were all complaining about it, and private sellers hoping to make some extra money for Christmas were mostly disappointed.  I was, too:  I took a couple of guns to sell, but had no luck at all until I'd actually left the show and was on my way back to my (distant) car.  A guy who'd looked at my guns in the exhibition hall caught up to me and made a low-ball offer on one of them.  He seemed a little embarrassed about it, but admitted he just didn't have enough money to go any higher.  Since I had things I wanted to buy, I accepted the offer, so the morning wasn't entirely wasted.  I also traded five used magazines (for a gun I no longer have) plus $10 for three new magazines (for a gun I do have).  At least that was cheaper than buying them outright for cash.

I was surprised by the amount of anger and resentment directed against President Obama.  I've heard it all before, of course, but today it was laced with profanity and real bitterness.  I think, if he tries to restrict private sales at gun shows or any other such step, he's going to spark the most widespread civil disobedience since the civil rights era.  People are fed up to the back teeth with the left's anti-gun rhetoric, and they simply won't take it any more.  That's just the way it is.

Ah, well . . . the money I got for my gun will pay for a Crimson Trace Laserguard and some spring kits for various weapons (mine and my students').  I'll have fun installing them soon, with a little help from a friendly gunsmith.

Peter