Bearing Arms and Then Some

This complex is swarming with booths and people. Firearms and jewelry seem to be the theme in this convention center. The majority of the booth owners are elderly individuals with gray hair. However, there are children to adults all walking around looking from vendor to vendor. I notice that four policemen stand by the entrance of the building checking the people who bring a firearm in. There must be two hundred booths here, spread over the size of two gymnasiums.

I stopped and talk with several of the booth owners and they all looked to have had a good amount of sales for the weekend. The prices range from ten to twenty dollars to up wards of two or three thousands for the goods available. An individual could buy a firearm, knife, Taser, camping gear, jewelry, or even art work here.

There is man wearing a cap and a pair of shorts walks up to a vendor selling ammunition. This man is carrying a plastic bag already full of many items. Full Hands speaks with the other man at the stand for a while pointing to different cartridges in the boxes. He decides to buy a single box of ammunition and pays for it with cash. Once the transaction is made Full Hands puts his purchased item in his bag and heads towards the booths near the exit. The man walks very slowly; preoccupied by each table he passes with things for sale.

My eyes notice a couple walking together, they look middle aged and they are both carrying a rifle case. The Shooters know what they are looking for, passing up many tables until they get to the ones that have guns. The woman stops at a table and hands her case to her partner while she picks up a rifle to examine it. After a moment of discussion she puts the rifle down and they maneuver on doing this same thing several more times.

Inside this building is also a concession room where a fair amount of visitors are eating food. It looks to mainly be a hospitality area for the actual vendors that have set up booths. The booth owners just show their pass at the door and are welcomed in.

Some younger women observing the jewelry tables together do not seem to care about the gun show going on around them. The three No Care Girls move down the row of booths laughing and trying on New Mexico style necklaces, bracelets, and rings. These ladies do not really look interested in buying anything, possibly it just more a thing to do to get out of the house. The No Care Girls see all the jewelers and then they decide it is enough for them and exit out the entrance without purchasing any goods.

I feel that many people that are here are just here to look while you can definitely tell that some are here to spend big money. The atmosphere is not slowing down either, more and more individuals are coming through the door to buy, trade, or sell. Altogether the complex is exciting and interesting in what it has to offer.