foggood11
Member
Modestly-sized show about 45 minutes from downtown gun-hating Seattle. This was the first show of 2013, and the first since the Connecticut shooting last month.
Yes, parking was difficult and overflowed into the lot across the street. Yes, there was a line out the door in sub-freezing weather, 100 people at least, to sign up for WAC membership (mandatory if you want to buy a firearm inside). Yes, it was...shuffle your feet from table to table..., turn sideways to walk down the aisle, and countless "excuse me's" and "sorry's" for bumping into people. Those weren't necessarily the encouraging parts I wanted to mention, although the size of the crowd was.
The real encouraging parts were:
1) much higher attendance than usual by the fairer sex, with husbands/sig others in tow. Saw lots of women picking up, pointing, sighting revolvers and semi-automatics. And from the looks of it, there were quite a few of them BUYING. The guys behind the counters generally seemed busier than normal with background checks and paperwork.
2) the questions I overhead being asked by obvious newbies. Example: one guy holding a 1911, asked "what's this thing sticking out, and why does it stick out so far". The vendor did a good job explaining that it was the mag release, and then proceeded to demonstrate how it worked, and why. I just smiled and shuffled on.....
I wish they'd have a show like this every weekend, especially in these parts, and it was just as crowded. If more people educate themselves about guns, how they work, what they do, and guns in general are de-mystified in the minds of Joe & Josephine Taxpayer, my take is that this can be a very good thing, indeed. I don't want to sound too Pollyanna, but I thought what I saw today was encouraging for our side.
Yes, parking was difficult and overflowed into the lot across the street. Yes, there was a line out the door in sub-freezing weather, 100 people at least, to sign up for WAC membership (mandatory if you want to buy a firearm inside). Yes, it was...shuffle your feet from table to table..., turn sideways to walk down the aisle, and countless "excuse me's" and "sorry's" for bumping into people. Those weren't necessarily the encouraging parts I wanted to mention, although the size of the crowd was.
The real encouraging parts were:
1) much higher attendance than usual by the fairer sex, with husbands/sig others in tow. Saw lots of women picking up, pointing, sighting revolvers and semi-automatics. And from the looks of it, there were quite a few of them BUYING. The guys behind the counters generally seemed busier than normal with background checks and paperwork.
2) the questions I overhead being asked by obvious newbies. Example: one guy holding a 1911, asked "what's this thing sticking out, and why does it stick out so far". The vendor did a good job explaining that it was the mag release, and then proceeded to demonstrate how it worked, and why. I just smiled and shuffled on.....
I wish they'd have a show like this every weekend, especially in these parts, and it was just as crowded. If more people educate themselves about guns, how they work, what they do, and guns in general are de-mystified in the minds of Joe & Josephine Taxpayer, my take is that this can be a very good thing, indeed. I don't want to sound too Pollyanna, but I thought what I saw today was encouraging for our side.
