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Lines Out the Door and Strong Sales at Tampa Gun Show
The New York Times ^ | 02/25/18 | TIFFANY HSU

Posted on 02/26/2018 5:24:08 AM PST by Simon Green

The lines stretched out the door this weekend at a gun show in Tampa, Fla., as thousands of potential buyers and the merely curious waited for their turn to browse booths stocked with the latest firearms, ammunition, customizable holsters and patriotic paraphernalia.

Inside, parents pushed their babies in strollers past T-shirts emblazoned with phrases like “I study triggernometry.” A nonprofit group in one booth was raffling off a rifle to raise money to battle child and animal abuse. On large signs by the entrance, the National Rifle Association was offering refunds on the $11 admission if shoppers signed up for a membership. Outside, Girl Scouts were selling cookies.

But the deadly mass shooting a couple of hundred miles away at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School cast its shadow. Both buyers and sellers were talking about the attack, as well as about the divisive debate that it had recently reignited.

And there, on many tables, were racks of AR-15s — variations of the hugely popular semiautomatic rifle used by the 19-year-old Parkland gunman.

Several sellers said they were on track to double their normal sales for a weekend. “It’s sad to say, but whenever there’s a shooting, business only goes up because people are afraid of losing their right to own a certain weapon,” said Quaidman Woody, who was running a booth with his father, a sales representative for CrossHeirs. “So even if they don’t need another AR, they’ll buy another AR or pieces of it.”

In the packed exhibition hall, attitudes toward firearms laws were far from monolithic.

Kathy Fox, who was helping at a booth with collectible Winchester rifles exhibited upright on a turntable, said she was pleased that Representative Brian Mast, a Republican and Army veteran, who represents her district in Florida, had called for a ban....

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: ar15s; banglist; florida; tampa
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To: Simon Green

"Shoppers, including a man carrying a rifle, at the gun show."

That's a shotgun not a rifle.

21 posted on 02/26/2018 7:50:11 AM PST by Rebelbase ( Hillary, DNC, DOJ and FBI colluded with a British National to influence the 2016 Pres. election)
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To: Simon Green

The NYT and their ilk probably think all these people are buying up guns to turn them in when the elitist tyrants prevail.


22 posted on 02/26/2018 8:04:43 AM PST by Blue Collar Christian (We Arizonans need to get rid of McCain/Flake as all of us pray for Trump.)
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To: TTFlyer
Kathy Fox, who was helping at a booth with collectible Winchester rifles exhibited upright on a turntable, said she was pleased that Representative Brian Mast, a Republican and Army veteran, who represents her district in Florida, had called for a ban....

Yet the same amount of damage could have been generated by any one of the Winchesters on her table!

When there's no opposition, the only limit to the carnage is the ammunition supply.

23 posted on 02/26/2018 8:38:54 AM PST by catman67 (14 gauge?)
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To: Simon Green

Answer me this:

If the RKBA is supposedly facing a public backlash, why is gun show attendance up?

As usual, the anti-2nd Amendment crowd will never figure out what makes Americans tick.


24 posted on 02/26/2018 8:42:29 AM PST by goldstategop ((In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Forever))
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To: Rebelbase
That's a shotgun not a rifle.

And illegal in California. Damn Gov Jerry Brown and Feinstein. They banned combination of pistol grip, barrel shroud, and collapsible stock on long guns. Hope NRA can reverse bad legislation from liberal fools.

25 posted on 02/26/2018 12:28:05 PM PST by roadcat
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To: Simon Green

Looking at a Mosin Nagant: “Why kind of weapon is this for $100?”
Dealer : “AR-15 assault weapon. And that’s $1,000”.


26 posted on 02/26/2018 12:32:32 PM PST by AppyPappy (Don't mistake your dorm political discussions with the desires of the nation)
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