A gun show in Memphis -- has anybody else been there?

[Emin]

I went there last Sat. with a couple of buddies -- the whole event sucked enourmously! The prices were simply ridiculously high -- I just couldn't believe my eyes. $550 for a USED Glock 20?! Give me a *&$#$@! break!

What really pissed me off and made me leave the show right away was some jerk selling knives who wouldn't let you touch them. When my friend finally convinced this guy to let him look at a Benchmade Axis folder, this idiot litterally pushed his hand away when my friend tried to touch the blade.

There was also something else that got me concerned about the kind of some people at this gun show. The very first table, as one enters the pavilion, was selling Nazi regalia -- bayonets, medals, patches, and a few semi-rusted Lugers. The stuff was real, from WWII.

But it's what I saw proudly hanging above the table that made me look in the eye of the owner very carefully (I saw nothing there, BTW) -- a brand new, recently made that is, Nazi flag. You know, the red one with a white circle in the center with a huge swastika. Would one buy this crap just to attract people, just to make the table visible from afar? "So that you'd know what I sell" - kind of deal? I know I wouldn't.

What a zoo...

[This message has been edited by Emin (edited September 18, 2000).]

 

[ruger45]

Tell me where to go for the great prices.
Dont know about used but most new glocks Ive seen go for 550.00.
And Ive gone to some big shows.
The Nazi BS the guy sells bugs me to but I have to realize different people have really different feeling about different flags.
Think about how some blacks feel about the confederate flag youll see them at the same shows.
Me and you know what the confederacy was really about but some are only taught by TV.
I never buy any of the Nazi regalia even though Im part German FAcist policies are just as disgusting to me.
We dont have too many shows in memphis but I do go to them because its one of the few places I can occasionally purchase one of those more 'dangerous' guns from an individual and not have to immediatly have it registered on paper and by computer with OUR facist government.
I also like to support that particular bookseller as hes been kicked out of other shows.
The other show promoter felt his books on silencers and automatic weapons were far too extreme.
What do you suggest for those of us living in memphis?
I do get out of town 1000 table show in little rock, huge ones in tulsa,700's n nashville but this is home.
www.ccops.org www.gunowners.org www.citizensofamerica.org

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"those who sacrifice
liberty for security deserve neither"

 

[foxfire]

I don't go as often as I once did.
Yes, I've also noticed there's a growing, somewhat unsavory element that's becoming a noticable participation at many of these shows.
But they're at all the shows that I've to recently, whether in Memphis or elsewhere.
Sometimes you just have to look harder. Perhaps it's the fact that he's set-up right inside the door where everybody can't help but see, rather than somewhere off in one of the corners of the building.

Bottom line - I'm just glad there's a show to go to in the first place.
We might not be able to have this discussion one of these days....



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...defend the 2nd.
No fate but what we make...

 

[Emin]

Both of you guys are correct saying "enjoy while it last" -- no argument from me there. However, there're few points I'd like to mention to make myself clear although I really should've done it in my first post.

Yes, I agree that most of us know of the Confederate flag from TV. Yes, we're badly misinformed about its heritage and what it really stands for. A Nazi flag, not a regalia but a newly-made-and-freshly-starched one, is (at least for me) a whole different thing.

My knowledge about Nazis doesn't come from a show on The Discovery channel. My grand-grandfather's whole family was buried alive by an SS squad back then. Someone witnesses survived, so I have a very special place in the hatred part of my heart for anything closely related to Nazi ideology and practices.

But what really gets me going is seeing one of such arrogant jerks, having been fed NOT by his own grandfather who fought in German army but most likely by his own racism and hate, proudly doing something like this.
Somehow I think it's not likely that if he was a grandson or a son of a former German soldier, his parent would teach him to respect the Nazi "heritage". These veterans have themselves seen horrors of the war. And I wouldn't even remotely compare anything that truly belongs to this country, like the Confederate traditions, to fascists. Sorry for letting off some steam on this guys, but like I said, I've got my reasons...

ruger45, I recently (less than a month ago) acquired a NIB Glock 23 from KYImports for a total of $471.00 including shipping and a credit card surcharge. And no, I didn't have to go to KY; I just picked up a phone and made the transaction.

And the story of that bookseller's troubles on some other shows is plain outrageous!