What is the largest gun show in PA?

[fritz1255]

You could thank internet sales for that. Accessories, ammo, and new guns are less expensive through the net. Whether or not that is a good thing is a matter of opinion.

In my lifetime gun shows had their heyday in the 70s to the 90s.

Not over yet. Unlike internet sales of clothing and other such things, returning a gun is expensive and problematic.

[c45man]

Not over yet. Unlike internet sales of clothing and other such things, returning a gun is expensive and problematic.

Returning a gun can be problematic on the gun store level as well. Many will send the firearm back to the manufacturer in your behalf.

Speaking of stores, there are fewer of the small local ffls. Many of the larger local stores are supplementing their sales via internet sources like gun broker.

[Walleye Hunter]

The pickles, bacon, jerky and backrubs aren't the same over the www.

[abner13]

You could thank internet sales for that. Accessories, ammo, and new guns are less expensive through the net. Whether or not that is a good thing is a matter of opinion.

In my lifetime gun shows had their heyday in the 70s to the 90s.

The decline started in '93 under Klinton , the BATF put the kabosh on home-based FFLs and retail businesses started to come to the shows in force. Before that , gun shows were mostly gun enthusiasts , hobbyists , collectors , packrats and curmudgeons selling the stuff they accumulated over the years. Ya didn't see tables full of new guns. Like car and motorcycle swap meets , Ya went to find odds & ends , hard to find stuff ya didn't normally find in new retail stores. The best gun shops are the ones with lots of used stuff. A whole area with boxes and bins of pre-owned gunjunk. Those too are rapidly fading away.

[mmi]

all the surplus ww2 stuff got bought during the great panics .

[icp4life162005]

The decline started in '93 under Klinton , the BATF put the kabosh on home-based FFLs and retail businesses started to come to the shows in force. Before that , gun shows were mostly gun enthusiasts , hobbyists , collectors , packrats and curmudgeons selling the stuff they accumulated over the years. Ya didn't see tables full of new guns. Like car and motorcycle swap meets , Ya went to find odds & ends , hard to find stuff ya didn't normally find in new retail stores. The best gun shops are the ones with lots of used stuff. A whole area with boxes and bins of pre-owned gunjunk. Those too are rapidly fading away.

My favorite thing about gun culture, and sadly dying off very quickly.

[R L Suehr]

The decline started in '93 under Klinton , the BATF put the kabosh on home-based FFLs and retail businesses started to come to the shows in force. Before that , gun shows were mostly gun enthusiasts , hobbyists , collectors , packrats and curmudgeons selling the stuff they accumulated over the years. Ya didn't see tables full of new guns. Like car and motorcycle swap meets , Ya went to find odds & ends , hard to find stuff ya didn't normally find in new retail stores. The best gun shops are the ones with lots of used stuff. A whole area with boxes and bins of pre-owned gunjunk. Those too are rapidly fading away.

This is still the reason I go to gun shows. To find unusual stuff you don't see in shops a lot of times. It's also the reason people bitch about them. They're not the best place to find great prices on the latest Glock or M&P, but an old Star or Steyr han you don't see pop up in your local shops is possible to find and deal on.

[Walleye Hunter]

To this day you never know what you're going to find there.