by Myra Mensh Patner
Staff Writer
Sep. 8, 2000
Promoter's annual bazaars face county
scrutiny
Frank Krasner knows a retail opportunity
when he sees one.
A decade ago, seeing that there were no
major gun shows in Montgomery or
adjoining counties, Krasner jumped into
the void. His company, Silverado
Promotions, launched summer, fall and
winter shows at area fairgrounds that have
become annual bazaars during hunting
season.
Now those shows are coming under
scrutiny for the first time in Montgomery
County.
County Councilman Blair G. Ewing (D-At
large) of Silver Spring plans to hold a public
discussion on whether the fairgrounds, or
any place in the county that receives public
money, should be open to gun shows.
"I'm not happy to see the sale of guns
promoted at the county at all," said Ewing, a
longtime gun control advocate. "It's a matter
of concern to me."
Ewing plans to ask the council's Public Safety Committee to explore ways the county
can have a say in the fairgrounds' firearms policy.
"I think we ought to look at it," he said. "At the very least, there should be a public
discussion."
The executive director of Montgomery County Agricultural Center and Fairgrounds,
JoAnne Leatherman, defends the shows, saying that the Gaithersburg facility is
privately owned and operated, and that guns fit the fairgrounds' rural themes.
She said Krasner has been a good tenant.
"Renters must meet all relevant governmental regulations," Leatherman said.
Ready for hunting season
Krasner said he expects to have about 60 vendors at the Silverado show set for Oct.
21-22 at the fairgrounds. A second show is planned for Jan. 6-7, 2001.
The October show is scheduled to take advantage of the dove-hunting season and
the deer-hunting season, which begins the day after Thanksgiving and lasts for two
weeks, Krasner said.
For a $5 entry fee, showgoers will see new and antique firearms, handguns, rifles,
shotguns, military hardware, assault weapons, bows and arrows, knives,
ammunition from all over the world, holsters and other gun paraphernalia.
Krasner said his shows draw customers because they present a well-managed and
convenient package.
"I bring in customers and a lot of reputable dealers at the same time and place, and
we follow the law. It's all under one roof," said Krasner, who also organizes shows in
Frederick, Howard, Prince George's and Wicomico counties.
Men especially seem attracted to the shows, Krasner said: "It's sort of a manly type of
thing. The shows are an antiques and collectibles show with a big dose of
testosterone."
Krasner, 42, said he developed his love for guns at a Boy Scout camp. Today, he
owns a gun collection and has a license to carry a concealed weapon, a handgun he
hides in a pouch in his pants when taking cash to the bank after his shows, he said.
But he does not sell guns himself.
Modern gun shows
A January 1999 study by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms,
estimated there are more than 4,000 gun shows annually.
The number increased after Congress enacted the 1986 McClure-Volkmer Act.
That law made it legal for federal firearms license holders to sell at gun shows;
previously, they could sell guns only in licensed locations.
McClure-Volkmer also created a loophole that made it legal for hobbyists and private
dealers who are not federally licensed to sell weapons at gun shows without
following such rules as the seven-day waiting period, criminal background checks or
recording transactions.
The loophole also spurred so-called straw purchases of guns. A straw purchase
occurs when legal customers buy guns for illegal customers who are minors or who
have criminal records, explained Kristen Rand, director of the Violence Policy Center
in Washington, D.C, a national nonprofit group that studies violence in America and
recommends legislation.
A 1996 Violence Policy Center report, "Gun Shows in America: Tupperware Parties for
Criminals," said McClure-Volkmer created places, such as gun shows, where
criminals and minors could obtain firearms they would not otherwise have been able
to purchase legally. Gun shows also became fruitful recruiting grounds for the
burgeoning militia movements, it said.
The shows are also a source of National Rifle Association members, according to
the report.
Michael Parker, the NRA's assistant manager of recruiting, said Krasner is a top
recruiter, signing up about 875 members in 1999 -- about 13th in the nation among
gun show promoters. He has signed up about 700 members so far this year, Parker
said.
Krasner said he waives his $5 entry fee for anyone who joins the NRA on the spot. "It
helps me with continued success in my business," he said.
Tightening loopholes
In the past decade, Maryland -- like California, Hawaii, New York, New Jersey and
Pennsylvania -- has tightened its gun show laws.
"We saw loopholes," said Maryland State Police Sgt. Bernard Shaw, who was
formerly supervisor of firearms licensing for the Maryland State Police and who had a
hand in drafting the first law that passed in 1993.
That law requires unlicensed gun dealers to obtain a temporary gun transfer permit
to sell handguns and certain kinds of assault weapons at tables during gun shows.
The permits leave a record of every sale.
Unlicensed dealers were also required to conduct background checks and use
seven-day waiting periods, just like licensed dealers.
But Shaw, now legislative liaison for the state police, said the 1993 law still allowed
individuals to walk around gun shows and sell guns without carrying out background
checks, so long as they did not sell from tables.
That loophole was closed in 1996 when the state legislature passed the Gun
Violence Act. That law said all handgun and assault weapon purchases in the state
were subject to background checks and the seven-day waiting period.
The 1996 law also made it illegal to buy more than one handgun per month unless
the buyer is registered as a collector.
Krasner said he is a stickler for making sure everyone obeys gun laws at his shows.
"I deal in strictly black and white, none of this 'it could be this, it could be that,' "
Krasner said. "All that matters is if it's legal."
Shaw confirmed that Krasner runs tight shows, reporting to the police infractions
such as possible straw purchases or anything else he considers suspicious.
"He does what he can to keep his shows clean," Shaw said.
Rand of the Violence Policy Center said ending loopholes is not enough because
there should be a requirement that gun shows be registered with state and federal
authorities. There should also be a requirement that dealers be registered and
checked for licenses, she said.
The law also should let communities establish security plans and limit how many
shows take place, when or where they take place and what kinds of guns sold, Rand
said.
The Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 and the Columbine High School massacre in
1999 intensified the spotlight on gun shows, Rand said. "That turned up the heat."
All four guns used in the Columbine shootings were purchased at Colorado gun
shows: Three were bought directly for the killers by an 18-year-old friend, while the
fourth was bought at a gun show and resold to the two teenage killers.
Fairgrounds at issue
Krasner said that when he realized there were no major gun shows in the lower end
of Maryland, he had found an opportunity.
"There wasn't much of anything south of Baltimore. There was a void," Krasner said.
He made a beeline for the Montgomery County fairgrounds in Gaithersburg, site for
more than 50 years of the popular county fair each August.
"The fairgrounds are large. It's a well-known place. People know where it is and how
to get there," said Krasner, who also uses the Frederick County and Howard County
fairgrounds for his gun shows.
Fairgrounds executive director Leatherman said the grounds are owned and
operated by a private, nonprofit corporation that makes its own decisions on renters.
A staff and an 18-member board are careful to ensure that renters are legitimate
enterprises, Leatherman said.
She said fairground officials rent to groups with themes such as agriculture and
animals, craft and antique shows, dog shows and similar events, and gun shows fit
the rural theme of the fairgrounds.
But Rand said there is mounting pressure across the United States to end gun
shows at fairgrounds and other publicly supported venues.
"When it's tax dollars going to gun show venues, the community should have a voice
on that," Rand said.
In 1998, Montgomery County gave the fairgrounds $250,000 so it could bring its
bathrooms and dining hall up to standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The fairgrounds also received $220,000 from the Montgomery County Arts Council in
1999 to upgrade the amphitheater, Leatherman said.
Some counties around the country have already moved to stop their fairgrounds from
allowing gun shows.
Last year, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance
banning gun and ammunition sales on property owned by the county.
After gun show promoters obtained an injunction that stopped the ordinance from
taking effect, the fair operator -- a private group that leases the fairgrounds from the
county -- continued renting to several gun show organizers, said Joel Bellman, press
secretary to L.A. Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who spearheaded the legislation.
Later in the year, however, the fairground operator did not renew gun show contracts
and the shows ended at the fairgrounds, Bellman said. A trial is expected on the
challenge to the ordinance.
Looking ahead
Krasner said he is aware of pressure around the country to tighten the laws
governing the shows. That's why he encourages voter registration and passes out
registration forms at every show.
"I tell people I never want to see them complain about what they're trying to do to us,"
Krasner said. "Get out there and exercise your right [to vote]."
Krasner said he believes the future of gun shows is iffy because so much
controversy swirls around them.
"I don't think this is a business I will pass along to my children in its present form," he
said.
The Montgomery gun shows have lost customers in recent years, Krasner said,
down from a high of about 3,000 people several years ago to 1,200 to 1,800 people
last year.
"It's been tapering off. I can't put my finger on it," he said.
In contrast, Krasner said, the July show at the Showplace Arena in Upper Marlboro
attracted 5,000 customers.
The one growing group of customers in Montgomery County is immigrants, Krasner
said: "The people that embrace the Second Amendment most fervently are people
that have never had that right."
Eric Salavida, a New Jersey ammunition dealer who used to be a vendor at Krasner's
gun shows, said the Internet also might be cutting into the gun show business.
Salavida said he does not go to gun shows any more because he can do more
business online.
"I don't need to do shows anymore. I've got the Internet," he said. "Why should you or I
go to a store competing with three other stores in a 10-mile radius? Why not go to a
store that competes in the world?"
But Krasner remains hopeful about the October show in Gaithersburg. If lawmakers
talk enough about tightening gun control laws in the next few weeks, he said,
attendance will spike.
"Every time they want to take away our gun rights," he said, "my customers are up."
http://www.gazette.net/200036/montgomerycty/county/24884-1.html
There is also a "nice" editorial cartoon of a Council woman screaming at a rat labeled "gun shows" under the kitchen table
Staff Writer
Sep. 8, 2000
Promoter's annual bazaars face county
scrutiny
Frank Krasner knows a retail opportunity
when he sees one.
A decade ago, seeing that there were no
major gun shows in Montgomery or
adjoining counties, Krasner jumped into
the void. His company, Silverado
Promotions, launched summer, fall and
winter shows at area fairgrounds that have
become annual bazaars during hunting
season.
Now those shows are coming under
scrutiny for the first time in Montgomery
County.
County Councilman Blair G. Ewing (D-At
large) of Silver Spring plans to hold a public
discussion on whether the fairgrounds, or
any place in the county that receives public
money, should be open to gun shows.
"I'm not happy to see the sale of guns
promoted at the county at all," said Ewing, a
longtime gun control advocate. "It's a matter
of concern to me."
Ewing plans to ask the council's Public Safety Committee to explore ways the county
can have a say in the fairgrounds' firearms policy.
"I think we ought to look at it," he said. "At the very least, there should be a public
discussion."
The executive director of Montgomery County Agricultural Center and Fairgrounds,
JoAnne Leatherman, defends the shows, saying that the Gaithersburg facility is
privately owned and operated, and that guns fit the fairgrounds' rural themes.
She said Krasner has been a good tenant.
"Renters must meet all relevant governmental regulations," Leatherman said.
Ready for hunting season
Krasner said he expects to have about 60 vendors at the Silverado show set for Oct.
21-22 at the fairgrounds. A second show is planned for Jan. 6-7, 2001.
The October show is scheduled to take advantage of the dove-hunting season and
the deer-hunting season, which begins the day after Thanksgiving and lasts for two
weeks, Krasner said.
For a $5 entry fee, showgoers will see new and antique firearms, handguns, rifles,
shotguns, military hardware, assault weapons, bows and arrows, knives,
ammunition from all over the world, holsters and other gun paraphernalia.
Krasner said his shows draw customers because they present a well-managed and
convenient package.
"I bring in customers and a lot of reputable dealers at the same time and place, and
we follow the law. It's all under one roof," said Krasner, who also organizes shows in
Frederick, Howard, Prince George's and Wicomico counties.
Men especially seem attracted to the shows, Krasner said: "It's sort of a manly type of
thing. The shows are an antiques and collectibles show with a big dose of
testosterone."
Krasner, 42, said he developed his love for guns at a Boy Scout camp. Today, he
owns a gun collection and has a license to carry a concealed weapon, a handgun he
hides in a pouch in his pants when taking cash to the bank after his shows, he said.
But he does not sell guns himself.
Modern gun shows
A January 1999 study by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms,
estimated there are more than 4,000 gun shows annually.
The number increased after Congress enacted the 1986 McClure-Volkmer Act.
That law made it legal for federal firearms license holders to sell at gun shows;
previously, they could sell guns only in licensed locations.
McClure-Volkmer also created a loophole that made it legal for hobbyists and private
dealers who are not federally licensed to sell weapons at gun shows without
following such rules as the seven-day waiting period, criminal background checks or
recording transactions.
The loophole also spurred so-called straw purchases of guns. A straw purchase
occurs when legal customers buy guns for illegal customers who are minors or who
have criminal records, explained Kristen Rand, director of the Violence Policy Center
in Washington, D.C, a national nonprofit group that studies violence in America and
recommends legislation.
A 1996 Violence Policy Center report, "Gun Shows in America: Tupperware Parties for
Criminals," said McClure-Volkmer created places, such as gun shows, where
criminals and minors could obtain firearms they would not otherwise have been able
to purchase legally. Gun shows also became fruitful recruiting grounds for the
burgeoning militia movements, it said.
The shows are also a source of National Rifle Association members, according to
the report.
Michael Parker, the NRA's assistant manager of recruiting, said Krasner is a top
recruiter, signing up about 875 members in 1999 -- about 13th in the nation among
gun show promoters. He has signed up about 700 members so far this year, Parker
said.
Krasner said he waives his $5 entry fee for anyone who joins the NRA on the spot. "It
helps me with continued success in my business," he said.
Tightening loopholes
In the past decade, Maryland -- like California, Hawaii, New York, New Jersey and
Pennsylvania -- has tightened its gun show laws.
"We saw loopholes," said Maryland State Police Sgt. Bernard Shaw, who was
formerly supervisor of firearms licensing for the Maryland State Police and who had a
hand in drafting the first law that passed in 1993.
That law requires unlicensed gun dealers to obtain a temporary gun transfer permit
to sell handguns and certain kinds of assault weapons at tables during gun shows.
The permits leave a record of every sale.
Unlicensed dealers were also required to conduct background checks and use
seven-day waiting periods, just like licensed dealers.
But Shaw, now legislative liaison for the state police, said the 1993 law still allowed
individuals to walk around gun shows and sell guns without carrying out background
checks, so long as they did not sell from tables.
That loophole was closed in 1996 when the state legislature passed the Gun
Violence Act. That law said all handgun and assault weapon purchases in the state
were subject to background checks and the seven-day waiting period.
The 1996 law also made it illegal to buy more than one handgun per month unless
the buyer is registered as a collector.
Krasner said he is a stickler for making sure everyone obeys gun laws at his shows.
"I deal in strictly black and white, none of this 'it could be this, it could be that,' "
Krasner said. "All that matters is if it's legal."
Shaw confirmed that Krasner runs tight shows, reporting to the police infractions
such as possible straw purchases or anything else he considers suspicious.
"He does what he can to keep his shows clean," Shaw said.
Rand of the Violence Policy Center said ending loopholes is not enough because
there should be a requirement that gun shows be registered with state and federal
authorities. There should also be a requirement that dealers be registered and
checked for licenses, she said.
The law also should let communities establish security plans and limit how many
shows take place, when or where they take place and what kinds of guns sold, Rand
said.
The Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 and the Columbine High School massacre in
1999 intensified the spotlight on gun shows, Rand said. "That turned up the heat."
All four guns used in the Columbine shootings were purchased at Colorado gun
shows: Three were bought directly for the killers by an 18-year-old friend, while the
fourth was bought at a gun show and resold to the two teenage killers.
Fairgrounds at issue
Krasner said that when he realized there were no major gun shows in the lower end
of Maryland, he had found an opportunity.
"There wasn't much of anything south of Baltimore. There was a void," Krasner said.
He made a beeline for the Montgomery County fairgrounds in Gaithersburg, site for
more than 50 years of the popular county fair each August.
"The fairgrounds are large. It's a well-known place. People know where it is and how
to get there," said Krasner, who also uses the Frederick County and Howard County
fairgrounds for his gun shows.
Fairgrounds executive director Leatherman said the grounds are owned and
operated by a private, nonprofit corporation that makes its own decisions on renters.
A staff and an 18-member board are careful to ensure that renters are legitimate
enterprises, Leatherman said.
She said fairground officials rent to groups with themes such as agriculture and
animals, craft and antique shows, dog shows and similar events, and gun shows fit
the rural theme of the fairgrounds.
But Rand said there is mounting pressure across the United States to end gun
shows at fairgrounds and other publicly supported venues.
"When it's tax dollars going to gun show venues, the community should have a voice
on that," Rand said.
In 1998, Montgomery County gave the fairgrounds $250,000 so it could bring its
bathrooms and dining hall up to standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The fairgrounds also received $220,000 from the Montgomery County Arts Council in
1999 to upgrade the amphitheater, Leatherman said.
Some counties around the country have already moved to stop their fairgrounds from
allowing gun shows.
Last year, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance
banning gun and ammunition sales on property owned by the county.
After gun show promoters obtained an injunction that stopped the ordinance from
taking effect, the fair operator -- a private group that leases the fairgrounds from the
county -- continued renting to several gun show organizers, said Joel Bellman, press
secretary to L.A. Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who spearheaded the legislation.
Later in the year, however, the fairground operator did not renew gun show contracts
and the shows ended at the fairgrounds, Bellman said. A trial is expected on the
challenge to the ordinance.
Looking ahead
Krasner said he is aware of pressure around the country to tighten the laws
governing the shows. That's why he encourages voter registration and passes out
registration forms at every show.
"I tell people I never want to see them complain about what they're trying to do to us,"
Krasner said. "Get out there and exercise your right [to vote]."
Krasner said he believes the future of gun shows is iffy because so much
controversy swirls around them.
"I don't think this is a business I will pass along to my children in its present form," he
said.
The Montgomery gun shows have lost customers in recent years, Krasner said,
down from a high of about 3,000 people several years ago to 1,200 to 1,800 people
last year.
"It's been tapering off. I can't put my finger on it," he said.
In contrast, Krasner said, the July show at the Showplace Arena in Upper Marlboro
attracted 5,000 customers.
The one growing group of customers in Montgomery County is immigrants, Krasner
said: "The people that embrace the Second Amendment most fervently are people
that have never had that right."
Eric Salavida, a New Jersey ammunition dealer who used to be a vendor at Krasner's
gun shows, said the Internet also might be cutting into the gun show business.
Salavida said he does not go to gun shows any more because he can do more
business online.
"I don't need to do shows anymore. I've got the Internet," he said. "Why should you or I
go to a store competing with three other stores in a 10-mile radius? Why not go to a
store that competes in the world?"
But Krasner remains hopeful about the October show in Gaithersburg. If lawmakers
talk enough about tightening gun control laws in the next few weeks, he said,
attendance will spike.
"Every time they want to take away our gun rights," he said, "my customers are up."
http://www.gazette.net/200036/montgomerycty/county/24884-1.html
There is also a "nice" editorial cartoon of a Council woman screaming at a rat labeled "gun shows" under the kitchen table
expressing