My cold dead hands
People are often surprised when I tell them I’m a ‘gun guy’. Well, I am. It’s not a fetish. I don’t hunt and I don’t pose a threat to polite society. I do, however, find guns to be a rather fascinating tool. So like many ‘crazy gun owners’, I meandered over to the Marlboro Best Western Royal Plaza this past Saturday for one of their semi-regular gun shows.
Holy shit. When did these things turn bat-shit insane? I first went to one of these shows about a decade ago with some co-workers who failed miserably trying to get me into a shooting trap. I remember them commenting on how much things had changed over the years, and after taking a few years off myself, I concur. Here’s the short list of things I saw so you didn’t have too.
1. Junk. Lots and lots of junk. There used to be a time that a gun show in New England would have a fair number of guys in sport coats with leather patches and a not so faint smell of pipe tobacco, buying and selling insanely priced Ithica shotguns. Seems like those guys were replaced by folks who think selling rusty, used barrels for a Mossberg 500 is a solid business model. The latter out numbering the former by a healthy margin.
2. I’m going to go out on a limb and assume the majority of the room were not registered Democrats. If I’m right in that assumption, and following that mode of thinking, I can then assume many in the room have supported some degree of military escalation over the last few years. Is it wrong then that I left very confused by the obvious fact that the National Guard recruiter on hand was being grossly out done by the Nazi memorabilia salesmen? Who the fuck is buying all these framed Nazi flags and medals? Where in your home do you hang such an item for display?
3. A direct descendant of number two. What’s with all the Confederate Flag licenses plates, t-shirts, and bumper stickers, guys? If while getting dressed in the morning you manage to convince yourself that a t-shirt criticizing the ‘war of northern aggression’ combined with a Red Sox hat is the look that really defines you as a modern male, may I be the first to call you out as a silly cunt? Thanks!
4. Prices. There’s an excellent argument to be made for the way in which the Commonwealth has effectively made it impossible to make a living as a firearms dealer since the late 90’s. Tom Riley was a mostly useless prick who did quite a bit of damage to the industry while AG. BUT, it would seem the industries biggest enemy is not the government, but ignorance. These shows used to be a place to get a great deal. Dealers came in and unloaded inventory at steep, yet controlled, discounts. Saturday I was hard pressed to find anything but laughable, outrageous prices. Accessories selling for three times the going price at ebay or ‘cheaper than dirt‘ was a common theme. Used surplus AK and SKS variants selling for 2-3 hundred over value. The remnants of the MA gun industry can only blame the state for so much if they are then going to tun around and ignore the realities of business in 2008. I don’t have to buy stuff from you and you’re certainly not going to convince me of your plight via robbery and/or ignorance of the internet.
5. Idiots. Honestly, I just don’t mind coming off like an arrogant asshole anymore. While there were still a number of the hardy weathered New Englander to be found, the majority of people in attendance were unfortunate white trash. Sorry if if that offends, but holy shit when did it become difficult to form a sentence or even say ‘excuse me’ while pushing your way through a crowd to drool over a Nazi Officers dagger?
Gun owners are becoming a more marginalized breed everyday in legislatively liberal states like MA. We all know this to be true. The unfortunate part of this is the extreme measures the industry goes in allowing itself to be marginalized by its customers. If you really want average people to understand shooting sports, coming off as a bunch of overtly racist, military fetishists (and fetishizing the wrong military at that) is probably not the way to go. Not that I’m an expert on such matters… but when other gun owners ask me why it is I don’t belong to the NRA or GOAL, this is why. Your cause has been co-opted by idiots who are so comfortable with their idiocy it ends up scarring off the reasonable people who view keeping a decent firearm around no different then owning a reliable hammer..
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2 Responses to “My cold dead hands”
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Dipshit, this is Lincoln. Apart from your 4-year old’s view of gun owners and 6-year old’s view of the right to bear arms, I wanted to chat with you about the MA pot decrim legislation.
Why hath thou forsaken WNL? I rarely check my e-mail, even when I’m anticipating one, so just post on Wormtown.
-Tom
This sounds like the gun shows have gone down the same drain as the flea market and the computer show. Both have devolved into junk sale venues for the relatively uninformed.