Gun show!

I went to the gun show today. Not just any gun show, mind you--it was the big one at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, VA. 700 tables, and all filled.

The show is great for collectors, because so many of the dealers are there selling actual collectible guns--nice WW2 stuff, civil war guns, etc. Very little junk. Of course there's still that one guy selling jewelry there. WTF? I mean, who goes to a gun show for that? And it was jam-packed with your stereotypical gun show crowd. If you've ever been to a gun show, you've seen these people:

--The guy walking around with a tricked-out expensive gun that he couldn't afford when he bought it a few months ago. He's trying to sell it now but no one's buying it because he's trying to get every penny back that he blew on the gun and it's accessories and he paid way too much. And every time a dealer offers him a low price, he whines "but I payed a lot more than that!"

--The guy with the military haircut and camouflage fatigues on who is also at least 50 pounds overweight. He's standing in front of any table where you want to talk to the dealer, not buying anything but just tire-kicking and trying to impress the dealer and anyone else within earshot with tales of his "tactical skills". Whatever.

--Then there's the typical young guy in his twenties who wouldn't be noticed at all except for the fact that he's dragged his girlfriend to the show with him and she's smoking hot and dressed in impossibly tight jeans and a t-shirt that's a size too small. He's ignoring her while he stares at all the guns, meanwhile everyone else in the show is staring at her. And she knows it and plays it. Day-um! Watching her was almost worth the show's $10.00 admission fee by itself. If I had me one of those, I sure wouldn't be wasting my day at a gun show.

I got out of there with about as much money as I went in with. I sold some junk I didn't need, bought a few books and a couple Uzi magazines, and I picked up a new barrel for the new gun that I have coming in. (I won't say what it is, but here's a hint: US Army Field Manual 23-45.)

I spent three hours there. I haven't been to a gun show in a long time, and unlike the old days when I rarely missed one, I no longer feel the need to go but once every couple of years now.