Sorry Steve..... I think I got Voter Rage from the 15 Recall elections in this State. Im tired of ppl saying DUMB things.

I see your point and I would be upset also but sometimes the guy walking with the gun sells it to the dealer the dealer resales it ten minutes later and makes $500. I sell retail and it takes all types and you are going to loose some.The key is to get the traffic at what ever it cost and deal with the pricks just don't piss anyone off along the way.. those wont come back for sure. I have wanted to give some some customers a peace of my mind gone home tol my wife I hate this prick only to have that very same customer make my day later down the road. FREE ADVISE

Keep your cool don't piss anyone off Monty

Banning private sales at gun shows not only is anti-gun, it is anti-capitalist, and it will simply further erode the number of people going to gun shows.

A gun show is where people come to buy and sell guns. That includes everyone.

It is asinine to claim that "divide and conquer" means giving up gun rights to help the police. Divide and conquer is how the anti-gunners split up gun owners and get them to turn on each other.

If you feel private sales (non-FFL) should have a background check. or private sales should be banned, then contact The Brady Campaign and tell them you'd like to help support them in closing the gun show loophole.

If the dealer is upset the guy got a higher price, tough. He should have offered more. That's capitalism, baby.

I read every response to my thread. I called a friend of mine and told him to look at the responses and he feels that anyone who pays to get in the gun show has the right to purchase a gun from anyone walking the isles.

A year or two ago, I went to a local gun show and that evening I was on TV. Supposedly, the local TV station had a guy with a hidden camera film people at the gun show.

They showed me looking at some guns and put me on TV without me even knowing about it. They also filmed themselves trying to purchase handguns and shotguns and trying to get out of doing any paper work.

Luckily, everyone they spoke to told them paper work would have to be filled out. I do not think it is right for a TV station to come into a gun show under false pretenses and do this type of thing.

Steve

Pay attention to the advertising of the gun shows.

Most advertisements say, "buy, trade or sale from dealers collectors and private sellers"

The shows in my area encourage it as it has more draw of people, both buyers and sellers.

Gun shows did not originate for, by or on behalf of dealers, they were swap meets by private owners, seeking to reduce their collections.

Over the years they have evolved as a outlet for all comers, and many selling goods are far from related to gun sales, when you see displays for things from beef jerky, nick-knacks, die cast collectables, and jewelry. Many things I don't waste my time looking at.

Chances are more people walk by a dealers table in one afternoon, than walk into his shop in a month, maybe even a year.

In Indiana we can sell guns to other individuals w/o a background check. I have sold many guns to and bought many guns from dealers and individuals at gun shows. If a dealer went-off on me or someone near me, he would have his hands full. I, like many others paid my $12.00 at the door with no restrictions on my activities. However, I will not sell a handgun to an individual unless we do a bill of sale and he/she must have a CCW. After all, this is still the USA, for now anyway, until the Dems get their gun controlling/banning ways.

With that being said, how in the hell can any gun owner be a Democrat/liberal?

Steve

What stops a dealer from walking the isles with guns for sale?

I always assumed the prices at a gun show would be reasonable given the venue and the amount of competition but to my surprise I've found nothing but a lot of over priced junk for the most part. If you want to make sales then be competitive or don't complain about someone who is.

If the expectations of the show promoters and show exhibitors are only the exhibitors are allowed to sell, then anyone carrying a gun or accessory would be stopped at the door and not allowed into the show, a simple fact, the promoter controls the show floor and the gate.

The moment an attendee carrying anything saleable is allowed onto the show floor, then the show becomes an open market. The exhibitors don't plop money down for exhibitor space without knowing exactly what the rules are, anyone saying otherwise are smoking their socks....................

Almost every gun show I've attened, I've had a sign pinned to the back of my shirt with either something for sale or something wanted. I have bought and sold from both attendee and exhibitors.

Surfer

It's the gun show promoter that sets the rules. I've been to some shows where you had to buy a table if you wanted to sell your gun or guns. Others allow anyone that pay's at the door to buy or sell as long as they comply with state and federal law. Everyone knows the rules before the show opens. So, if the promoter allows individual sales without the purchase of a table, then the dealers that do buy tables should just suck it up and accept the terms of the show.

Lately the shows I've been to have all been way over priced on most things, especially guns. The local gun shops all run sales before and during the gun shows as well and usually under sell the gun shows anyway. I enjoyed the gun shows more when it was primarily just guns being sold. I really don't have a need for cammo baby clothes, home made chocolate pretzels, or earrings made from pheasant feathers.

What does and will hurt gun shows are the many of the unlicensed "dealers" selling multiple handguns either in a gun show or out in the parking lot at a gun shows. These people generally could care less about background checks, in-state allowed sales, etc.

In the last two years we have had a local unlicensed "dealer" sell one or more handguns to a convicted escaped felon from Colorado at a gun show. This individual selling the handguns had been warned by the ATF that he needed to get a license. He didn't and continued to sell large numbers of firearms. The pistol(s) sold to the felon were used by the felon to kill local police Sgt. Tim Chapin in a botched robbery attempt. The ATF traced the pistols to the unlicensed dealer and set up a sting on him. They bought over 20 pistols from him and eventually busted him after this "dealer" bought a full-auto weapon from them. These are the type of people that need to be weeded out at gun shows.

The gun shows I go to in ohio you can ONLY do a gun sale inside the building. Henry

At $25 to $45 per table I always wondered how they broke even. Friend of mine rents 10 tables at most shows.

Gun Dealers sell by volume. If someone does a "PRIVATE" sale of one or two guns that's none of their buisness! True, an guy can't bring in a bunch of guns to sell but, one or two isn't going to break asnybody's bank! Besides I know most (note I dfidn't say ALL) Dearlers are out to make a big and fast buck! They figure you are desperate to sell or trade the gun. I quit going to Gun Shows for this reason. I shop on line now and get better deals! To me it's worth paying the dealer the fee to use his FFL for the transfer. BTW there is NO federal law that requires back ground checks for gun show sales "unless" you are an FFL dearler(some starte laws do). Private sales are ok,Just don't try and sell a bunch of guns at one time or the BATF will be looking at you very hard! The difference in the McDonalds and Car dealers is they "OWN" the property! Gun dealers do not OWN the places where Gun Shows are held! It's a free country!

Maybe it's time once again for me to post my Typical Gun Show rant, but in a separate thread.

(Edit - I put it in the Off Topic section.)

DoubleAuto;

There is no such thing as an unlicensed dealer just as there is no "gun show loophole."

The law is the law and right now there are no federal requirements for private sales except for age requirements (21 for handguns and 18 for long guns) and the law requiring any hand guns to be only sold to residents of the same state.

Steve Nunley

Albuquerque, NM

I'm a dealer. A gun show is a "free-market" venue. Heck, even Stevie Wonder can see that.

But, don't come into my shop and sell your gun to one of my customer/prospects while he is standing at my counter.....

Mike

Most show promoters, at least the quality one's require exhibitors who are selling guns to be current FFL holders or they won't be allowed to exhibit guns in their show. Anyone holding an FFL knows the risk of fines and or imprisonment for out of bounds sales. The shoddy promoters are the one's who have shoddy exhibitors and make shoddy deals, you can tell the difference the moment you walk onto the show floor.

The fact remains gun shows are business venues and people exhibiting in them are there to conduct business, good or bad and everything displayed is price negotiable but you must be a buyer, not a looker. You know the old saying "Moeny Talks, B.S. Walks" asking and getting are two separate issues.

I've made some very good buy's from gun show venders over the years and have no regrets with any deal I've made at a show.

Surfer

So if you don't like private sales somewhere where a "vendor" has paid a price,,,,,,does the same hold true for trap shoots,,,,,should no private sales take place because a vendor has purchased some real estate????

Should all guns for sale on the bulletin boards be taken down while the shoot is going on?????

If the vendors are being competitive,,,,,,they will get their fair share......

Well said Rebel. Sometimes common sense goes a long way. Should i not park my car down the street from a car dealer with a for sale sign in it? Seems like some people think they atre the only ones allowed to make money. If a dealer does not want the hassle of a gun show stay home. Pretty simple.

These "unlicensed gun sellers" are selling enough guns each year to qualify as "dealers" that require an FFL. Started going to gun shows in 1964 and have been watching these high volume non-licensed sellers skirt the laws for years. Most don't care who they sell to. Most don't check to make sure it is a legal in-state sale. Have watched people make "straw purchases" at gun shows for $10-$20 per purchase for the brother-in-law's friend of a friend that they don't even know. This type of behavior will be what eventually limits or ends the gun show industry. Too many people are making money on guns (many using excuses like "just to pay for my shooting", etc.) without following the law.

Bad, park your car on a lot where a dealer has paid for rights and see what it cost in reclamation fees after it's towed.

Dick, if a dealer has exclusive rights to buy and sell guns at a trapshoot, i'm betting that would exactly happen...

I didn't read all the post.

I have been going to gun shows for over 40 years. I have had to deal with one AH at a gun show who thought everything within 30 feet of his table was his. He was talking to someone about a gun and a guy who was in the middle of the isle was just standing there and I asked what he had. The dealer went nuts. I tried to talk to the guy and he wouldn't listen. I then told him what he could do. I also reported him to the people running the show. They said OH HIM AGAIN. He was know for starting trouble. I saw him one time there after at another show and I don't think if I remember right he didn't last long.

At a show in VA you have the right by state law to sell trade or buy at gun shows with your own property. No law against it. That is a gun show. Take it or leave it. If the dealer gets upset WELL SOORRRYYYYYYY. If the dealers would offer a fair price just maybe they could get more guns and business. I try to deal with the little people and stay away from the big dealers.

Gun shows use to be nothing but fun. People getting together and buying, selling and trading. It was a hobby and if you made some money well great. But not any more. Its now greed and its a business. Money, money and money. I still try to make it fun amd have fun.

I used to buy a lot at gun shows, till the dealers started running around before opening time and soaking up all the good stuff.

That said, anyone telling me I can't bring something i want to get rid of in will have a lil problem.

Let the whiners here have a "Gun Fair", no selling no buying from anyone except table holders, see how long they last. The busier a show is the more people walk past their table. the rest is uup to the dealer.

HM

Its just what it says, A GUN SHOW IS A GUN SHOW. A dealer brings in quanity of guns and other things to show and sell. Usually a private person brings in a gun and not a hole damn truck load. Private person wants to sell his or trade. Dealers that don't like it then don't set up. Saves you time from unloading and loading your truck. The last I new the market is not cornered yet. Although George Soros is trying. Wild Bill

I share a table at a show or two each year. I am not an FFL. I do not object & if I can buy a carried-in gun for what the owner wants & if I put it on the table for more,my business. He needs to know the value of his item. That is my gun now,to do what I want with. He got the $$$ he wanted,that is what counts. And usually I will NOT do an immediate table turn out of respect for the seller. And if it appears that the carry-in seller is hurting himself badly $$$ wise,I will tell him. I had a buddy a few yrs ago that turned down a young teen with a K-80 Combo for $1100. Grandpa died,left him the gun. He got educated in a hurry.

In some resort communities, e.g., Morro Bay from what an antique dealer told me, "yard sales" are watched very carefully to see that such sales are legit. getting rid of personal items and not an under the table (avoiding tax) de facto store. Perhaps the ground rules at a gun show need to be "on the table" and in print before the show starts.

...and I have found most, but not all, dealers to hardly offer fair prices. Bottom line: Maybe it is that damn economic law, the law of supply and demand that drives what is paid where and by whom.

Senior Smoke. I have been on both sides of the table at shows of all kinds. The walk in sellers,buyers are all part of the game. As a table vendor. I would of liked to to buy all the walk in bargains. It just doesn't work that way. Clyde

You know, guys, here's something else to ponder; and this may all be a mute point in a very short time anyway.....

First, gun shows used to be the #1 place to go to find that particular gun you were looking for. That is no longer true. Now, a gun show is about #3 from the top. They have been upstaged by the big auction houses and the internet firearms sites - both of which, by the way, must comply with all federal firearms transfer laws.

The big auction houses get top dollar for guns due to the old adage: "Get two or more bidders going against each other; somebody's going to end up paying too much."

The internet is an "armchair gunshow". It costs me a fortune to do a big show such as Tulsa, for example. The gas, the motels, the ever increasing table rent. Food. Other incidentals such as a blow-out on the truck or trailer. If I sell a modern gun while out of my state, I am required to take it home and ship it to the buyer's FFL. I can stay home and put the same guns on GB, GI or GA and if they sell I pay a very modest commission and charge for shipping. Heck, I don't even need a gun shop anymore really. My personal vehicle lasts years longer than the old days when I was a road-warrior. As you can probably tell, I don't do as many shows as I used to do. It should be clear why - and why shows are declining in quality. It is not as much fun when you have to sell one or two guns at a profit just to pay for the show....

Truthfully, what is keeping gun shows alive in this country today are two things: (1) The social aspects of seeing old "gun show buddies" once or twice a year, and; (2) For some folks it is the last place they can go to buy a gun without paperwork. And that lack of paperwork may be the nail in the coffin for gun shows anyway. But, that is another subject involving social issues.

I see guys selling guns in the aisles at shows all the time. If I am interested, I try to buy them. I offer instant payment. Sometimes I get them; sometimes I don't. Either way, the future of gun shows does not look too bright to me.

Gun shows have sure been a lot of fun over the years, and I will miss them if they go away. But, as they say, "Nothing lasts forever".

Mike

I just got a PM from a guy who said that he purchases tables at gun shows. He said it is very discouraging when he pays for a table, than some guy brings in a gun for sale and people who pay for tables don't even get a chance to make an offer on the gun, as someone in line has already purchased the gun.

He says if this is normally allowed why then even purchase a table and let all of us just walk the isles with signs on our backs?

He said that for all the guys who think nothing is wrong with this scenario, sit at a table after you paid for a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and maybe your opinion might change?

He also mentioned that a few years ago at a state shoot, he put a table up in front of his car with a few guns for sale. He said some representative of the club charged him money because he was selling a few guns while on the gun clubs property. They told him they did not want anyone selling guns on their property unless they paid for a table. Steve

I feel so sorry for that guy....not. What a pussy. He's just upset he didn't get a chance to screw somebody else out of a gun.

The dealer rents a table, not the aisle and not the entire building. At least that's how it's done here.

John

I go to a few gun shows near my home. Most of the time I am not looking for guns but other shooting related items of interest. Over the years, I have met some good dealers as well as some other fine people that usually attend the shows.

This is my theory, dealer or not, if the price is to high, I move on. I do not take it personal as it's his gun. Business is business, I try never to take it personal even if I don't particularly like the guy selling the gun.

Steve

A friend of mine just saw the above response of mine. He said, if he makes an honest offer on a gun and the guy refuses to accept it, than the seller just made an enemy for life. I told my friend he's crazier than most.

So I asked him, recently you had a 31TC for sale for $1,000.00. If I would have offered you $600.00 which I felt was a honest offer, would you have sold it to me? He said no! So than I said, so according to your way of thinking I should than be angry with you for life? He said Yes! I am starting to think that my friend needs a break at Shady Brook mental hospital.