The Gun Show

Well,

I heard good things about the gun show in Richmond, so I decided to drop by Saturday morning. Loaded my father in law and son in the car and by 8:45 we were on the road. It was a nice morning for a drive - 60 degree and relatively sunny - as my son sat in the back singing

I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart
where?
down in my heart

and my father in law relayed war stories and discussed ballistics with me.

Should have known the day was going to go down hill cause it started out so nice.

Aah, the C&E gun show . . . where do I start?

Perhaps with the contingent of Nazi's and Skinheads and Aryans that greated us as we pulled into the parking lot. Seriously, where do these shit heads come from. I would have guessed they were just punk rockers, except there was aa certain gay bonding amongst them and they all had SS storm trooper shirts and swastikas on them. I know we shouldn't judge others by their looks, but really, why can't we just shoot these vermin on sight?

By the time I pulled into the parking lot, it had turned overcast and began to rain. Luckily though, we were able to drive right past the Nazis and land a parking space pretty close to the front door. From there we headed off to the ticket booth and found ourselves surrounded by Crips or Bloods or something. The 500lb gangsta' in front of us had a semi auto bull barrel MP5 with double drum magazines (he claimed it held 200 rounds, I sort of doubt it), the tactical flashlight, and a red dot sight on it. It was slung over his arm - like a man purse - and he was swinging it around for all to see. Didn't get whether it was for sale or not. Once we paid for our ticket, we got to stand in a second line where the cops checked everyone out for guns and we had our hand stamped.

Beyond the Aryan Nation and the Gangster's the crowd was a pretty good mix of white trash, rednecks, and bewildered folks. The selection of guns was poor - the normal bad deals, alot of surplus in horrible shape and the usual big local gun show dealers (Dark Sun, Trader Jerry, etc). I'd estimate there was more non gun stuff (jerky, toys, t-shirts, prints, historical crap, plain 'ol junkyard crap) than guns by maybe a ratio of 2-1.

I of course, didn't care as I was looking solely for bullets and primers so I could reload (bullets weigh to much to ship and I refuse to pay a $20 surcharge for primers or powders). Luckily, Georgia Arms was there just as we walked in. I ended up buying 300 rounds of .451 230 grain FMJ. Had a good conversation with the guy and his son - he gave us his card - and since they are only about an hour from my Georgia place I am gonna do a trip to the factory the next time I am down (probably this spring). Sadly, he was the only person I saw selling reloading supplies - and those bullets were it. There were a couple of tables with surplus ammo - but it was all pretty expensive like the rest of the stuff there. After making it around the entire floor, I headed back to the Georgia Arms table and bought 200 more rounds of .451 230 grain FMJ (the rest of his stock) and 100 rounds of .451 230 grain HP.

We quickly hightailed it out of there and raced over to Green Top Sporting Goods which is a really neat shop. I was able to buy powder and primers there and really enjoyed the aisles of rifles.

All in all, I would not go back to a Richmond gun show (and I now know what my wife meant when she said Richmond is a dive) but would return to Green Top in a second (and assume I will soon).

Incidentally, from what I gather, this is the gun show where there were lots of problems with the police last time around. I'm pretty much opposed to any government interference with the RKBA, but honestly, after attending and dealing with the Nazis and gang bangers and general attendees at the show Saturday morning, I can't say it upsets me too much anymore (at least at this location). If Saturday was an anomaly, and the crowd is usually better and more law-abiding, please let me know.