Air-humping the Mexican Drug Cartel

So my 9 year old nephew has been bugging me to take him to the next gun show ever since I took him to his first show late last year(before the election). He naturally gravitated to the .22 Chipmunks and Crickets at that show and I mentioned that I would buy him one when he’s older, can recite and demonstrate the basic safety rules, learns how to disassemble, clean and reassemble one of my guns. I got him a tool set of wrenches and screw drivers several years ago so I’m not too worried about the latter half. My brother would regularly buy old toasters and other random appliances at garage sales for him to take apart and put back together and his mad lego skills have improved dramatically lately.

He does however need some serious work on the basic safety rules. More on that in a sec.

Gun Show…Saturday, March 7th.

I left the house at 8am and picked up my buddy, where to my delight, my other buddy, his wife, gave each of us a Church of G.O.D.(Gun Owning Disciples) T-shirt to wear to the show which she had made the night before. The certificate of membership is complete. The wallet cards are complete. The basic tenets of the faith is in rough draft form and the “Holey Book” will be a collaborative work in progress which I will detail in a future post.

Then off to pick up my nephew and my brother’s work place. I found him finishing up some chores that the other staff had given him to do for the handsome sum of $3. He’s been doing odd jobs for whatever money he can get so he CAN BUY HIS OWN CHIPMUNK. I was a bit proud to say the least. So I walk into the gun show with $87 in cash and my nephew is sporting $120 neatly folded into a money clip I had given him 2 years ago. Ya, I had the checkbook and plastic, but I was still impressed.

We arrived at the show ½ hour after the doors opened and the parking lot was bat-shit crazy full. The number of staff giving admission had doubled, the number of staff checking firearms had tripled and the line was still outside the door and into the parking lot. I’ve been to a lot of gun shows in my day and I had never seen a turn-out like that.

My dad was waiting for us near the entrance and we starting looking for a good gopher gun for him. He had mentioned that he liked the sound of the 45 LC/.410 Taurus Judge. He wants to hang a holster on the John Deere and shoot rodents as he mows the lawn in some kind of mechanized Wild Wild West re-enactment.
The price tag of the Judge turned him off in a hurry and I suggested that he switch his focus to an H & R Model 88 single shot .410 and a full length scabbard he can mount on the engine cover. His eyebrows raised in approval.

We were there a good hour before we even glanced at the price of ammo. Ouch. My next gun purchase will probably be in 5.45 X 39 so I can go to the range with something more than a .22. Talked to one of the vendors and he said he brought in a full pallet of 7.62 X 39 and sold it all in the first 20 minutes of the show.

Due to the booming economy and the rock solid security I have at my job, I knew I wasn’t going to buy anything other than accessories for the guns I already have.

EBR’s were outrageous and still flying off the tables. AK’s, AR’s, and FN’s were understandably a bit more scarce and demanding a premium. Makes me glad I bought most of mine during the ban, when they were cheap.

Saw a few choice pieces that caught my eye:

Beretta wheel gun rifle in .45 LC.
Hakim with a 7.62 X 39 barrel sleeve.
Nagant revolver with a spare .32 cylinder for dirt cheap.
Saiga AK 12 gauge.

There were probably a few more that escaped my attention but it’s kinda hard to do a thorough sweep when you have to air-hump at least two other people to get close to the table. I assume that all the RPG’s had sold out before we got in since I didn’t see any.

After the show, my nephew has the opportunity to shoot a real gun and display his safety skills. He failed. Does fine with keeping the gun pointed in a safe direction but can’t keep his finger off the trigger. I remind him repeatedly about the seriousness of his actions and he repeatedly jams his finger inside the trigger guard. I scold him and take the rifle away, telling him again why. I then get the silent treatment for the next 2 hours.

So be it.

I have at least 3 more years to work with him before I consider buying him a .22, he has at least 3 years to contemplate his actions and correct them. If being in the dog house in his eyes will accelerate his maturity, then that is a house I will gladly occupy. I'd rather be his mentor than his friend since it's obvious his foot steps are landing inside mine.

He'll understsand when he's older, and then I can be both.