I was at the flea market and a gun show broke out. The sauce wasn’t too bad actually but the candles... not so good. I pay the admission and I have my opinion. I’m sure there is something for everyone at the shows now. If it brings more people in looking for non firearm items it’s a good way to introduce them to the other side of the show. But as for me I miss the old days of individuals with tables of guns wheeling and dealing. I can pay MSRP or MAP just about anywhere without a cover charge.
"Chinesium AR-15s, optics, and knives," or "spaghetti sauce and candles." Think of it this way, those extra vendors pay for tables to help make the show possible, which gives more opportunity to the actual vendors YOU believe should be there. I'm willing to bet that the organizers sell those slots because they are not beating back throngs of gun dealers looking for a table. Back in the day, when you had way more "kitchen table" FFLs, of course the shows had fewer tables of extraneous, non-gun items. Different story these days, but thankfully we still have gun shows. We went to some big boat/RV show in Houma, and bought some AWESOME mayhaw jelly, but maybe no one should have been selling jellies at a boat/RV show to fill floor space. While my son was walking around the Mandeville gun show with me, and we passed a table where some guy was selling handmade wooden pens, he noticed my son's interest in one that had a deer head on it and he just gave my son the pen. I then bought one for myself. My son was thrilled...to get a pen...at a gun show. As a teenager, I had a cheap French Market butterfly knife long before I had one of better materials and workmanship, which I bought, by the way, at a gun show. I've made several firearm purchases at the Slidell gun show over the years, and I'll pass through there this Saturday, and I'll smile a little bit derisively when passing the table full of Frost Cutlery fantasy ninja swords, but some kid will be there grinning ear to ear while handing over $5 of his birthday money for that pocket knife with a cool looking skull on the handle, and that's fine with me. Also, if a "Chinesium AR-15" is what someone can afford, that's good, too. So sample the various jerkies or sugared nuts, maybe even buy your mother-in-law a horribly scented candle, then move on to what you like.
"Chinesium AR-15s, optics, and knives," or "spaghetti sauce and candles." Think of it this way, those extra vendors pay for tables to help make the show possible, which gives more opportunity to the actual vendors YOU believe should be there. I'm willing to bet that the organizers sell those slots because they are not beating back throngs of gun dealers looking for a table. Back in the day, when you had way more "kitchen table" FFLs, of course the shows had fewer tables of extraneous, non-gun items. Different story these days, but thankfully we still have gun shows. We went to some big boat/RV show in Houma, and bought some AWESOME mayhaw jelly, but maybe no one should have been selling jellies at a boat/RV show to fill floor space. While my son was walking around the Mandeville gun show with me, and we passed a table where some guy was selling handmade wooden pens, he noticed my son's interest in one that had a deer head on it and he just gave my son the pen. I then bought one for myself. My son was thrilled...to get a pen...at a gun show. As a teenager, I had a cheap French Market butterfly knife long before I had one of better materials and workmanship, which I bought, by the way, at a gun show. I've made several firearm purchases at the Slidell gun show over the years, and I'll pass through there this Saturday, and I'll smile a little bit derisively when passing the table full of Frost Cutlery fantasy ninja swords, but some kid will be there grinning ear to ear while handing over $5 of his birthday money for that pocket knife with a cool looking skull on the handle, and that's fine with me. Also, if a "Chinesium AR-15" is what someone can afford, that's good, too. So sample the various jerkies or sugared nuts, maybe even buy your mother-in-law a horribly scented candle, then move on to what you like.
I went. Most stuff way overpriced. I will probably skip the next one.