'Mr. Obama is our top gun salesman'
The Sports Connection Gun Show at the Flathead County Fairgrounds started off quietly on Friday.
Sports Connection owner and show organizer Brian Kjensmo said Tuesday he expected the latest round of gun control measures — unveiled this week by President Barack Obama — would bolster attendance at the show.
Most of the vendors noted that Friday was typically the slow day of the three-day show, but several surmised that the president’s recent executive actions could be a boon for sales.
Don Foster, who drove to Kalispell from Helena, stood next to several tables stocked with rifles, handguns and ammunition.
“It’ll be a little better. Mr. Obama is our top gun salesman,” he said. “People think there’s going to be more regulation. You won’t be able to buy a gun without putting it on paper.”
He said that while some degree of gun control might help reduce gun violence in the country, placing more limits on legal gun sales won’t ultimately solve the problem.
“The bad guy is going to have a gun regardless,” he said. “A lot of the people committing these crimes, they’re idiots. Or they’re crazy.”
Foster said he has been going to gun shows for 35 years and mostly does it to make some money. But he noted there’s also a fellowship that has kept him coming back to shows throughout the state.
“It gets in your blood, you might say,” Foster said. “I enjoy the people — the dealers and the public.”
About 40 gun dealers stood behind folding tables spread throughout the Expo Center building. Besides guns, knives and ammunition, wares included sunglasses, purses, signs, swords, cigarette cases, old keys, backpacks and cast iron waffle makers.
Gun and knife dealer Ronald Leonard stood by a table under which his 11-year-old black Lab, Ladybug, took a nap. He guessed it’s at least her 75th show.
He’s a semi-retired small gun and knife seller from Somers and said the requirements that more small gun sellers and collectors obtain federal gun dealer licenses would likely push him out of the business.
“I’m 89. At my age, it wouldn’t be practical,” he said. “They said it would take two years [to obtain a license] because there’s a backlog.”
Federal officials have provided a different estimate — spokeswoman Lisa Meiman of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives told the Daily Inter Lake Tuesday that most licenses are processed within about 60 days.
Most dealers at the Kalispell show declined to be quoted in the media, citing fears of reprisal from the federal firearms agency or from the Obama administration in general.
One gun dealer, who said he was a former police officer, said he thought appearing in the paper could lead to pressure from the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office.
Another merchant said he feared backlash from anti-gun activists or that his house could be targeted by burglars because of his cache of valuable weapons.
The show’s organizers prohibited video recording and photography inside the building, which they lease from the county for the three-day show.
It goes along with the reluctance of dealers and attendees to create a record of their sales, Foster said.
“People come to the show, they don’t want [the purchase] to be on paper,” he said. “There’s no record. In other words, they’re thinking about someone from the government coming and taking away their guns.”
The Sports Connection Gun Show will continue from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday at the fairgrounds.
Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com