Silverado gun shows calling it quits

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  • Pale Ryder

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 12, 2009
    6,234
    Millersville
    Ohh, touched a nerve? I'm not dividing. I have nothing against guys who only collect traditional hunting rifles and the like, but it absolutely pegs them as "Fudds" because that's what they are! They generally don't care for modern rifles and wax rhapsodically about lever actions and rounds with hyphens and "oughts" in the name.

    I play video games, read sci-fi and fantasy, collect obsolete military arms, blue-collar shotguns and play D&D every other Sunday night. It makes me a nerd/geek but I don't get riled up about that label because I enjoy it.

    We're all gun owners, but certain aspects of owning and collecting will get you a label and if so, who gives a s*** so long as you are enjoying what you do.

    Most kids play videogames, but the ones who play FIFA and Madden aren't going to get called "nerd" like the ones who play "Final Fantasy" or "Elder Scrolls" will. Same goes for any are of interest.

    Nope. I have MSR's but don't like labeling. I hunt. I have bolt actions, shotguns, semi's too.
    Just seems that whenever someone says "Fudds" it's exclusively aimed at hunters. As if hunters don't give a rats arse about the 2A like, oh say benchrest shooters, biathletes, or mall ninja's.
     

    Biggfoot44

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 2, 2009
    32,881
    Strange. Arguably the most ardent 2A advocate in recent memory, and a leader of the Cincinnati Revolt was , get ready for this ...... a Benchrest shooter .
     

    Pale Ryder

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 12, 2009
    6,234
    Millersville
    It's all ok, whatever floats your boat. I just hate hunters getting labeled as Fudds, like we don't GAF about the 2 A. That's all I will say lest the hammer befall me.
     

    PJDiesel

    Banned
    BANNED!!!
    Dec 18, 2011
    17,603
    Nope. I have MSR's but don't like labeling. I hunt. I have bolt actions, shotguns, semi's too.
    Just seems that whenever someone says "Fudds" it's exclusively aimed at hunters. As if hunters don't give a rats arse about the 2A like, oh say benchrest shooters, biathletes, or mall ninja's.

    Been a major sticking point by many here.

    The guys who use the term "Fudd" are generally the tacticool types who rarely if ever shoot but are the first to spout off how they will kill anything that moves in or near their home.

    Up until this spring (including the 5 previous years) I shot literally 6 times a month, 10K rounds a year EASY not counting waterfowl hunting. I know a few Members here who shoot quite a bit like that,.... not many. The issue with it,... it's 95% shotgun target sports and bird hunting.

    = "Fudd"
     

    babalou

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Aug 12, 2013
    16,019
    Glenelg
    I will call a Fudd a Fudd. To me they are the ones who say only negative things about newer firearms and say 2A only about hunting and target shooting. All other gun owners who only hunt and target shoot but have no problems with 2A and newer tacticool weapons I do not consider Fudds. They just prefer their weapons of choice. I see The Hooligans shoot tons of older style weapons.. and some newer. Those guys are definitely not Fudds and probably push you out of the way to get to the front to protect the 2A.

    Now the same can be said for the tacti cool only donks. They should be called Pudds because they act like one.

    Luckily here most may have preferences but definitely like both types of firearms and are not Fudds or Pudds. I said “most” on this forum.
     

    dist1646

    Ultimate Member
    May 1, 2012
    8,758
    Eldersburg
    Next time in Annapolis, we should take special care to see which type really stands up for the 2A and which are just internet commandos.
     

    omegared24

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 23, 2011
    4,747
    Ijamsville, MD
    All this arguing. At the end of the day the shows sucked. People that were willing to pay the fee to have a table showed up, they sold cheap knives/jerky, and sold very few overpriced guns.

    Wasn't some conspiracy...wasn't a bunch of antis putting him out of business. The market spoke.
     

    StantonCree

    Watch your beer
    Jan 23, 2011
    23,932
    All this arguing. At the end of the day the shows sucked. People that were willing to pay the fee to have a table showed up, they sold cheap knives/jerky, and sold very few overpriced guns.

    Wasn't some conspiracy...wasn't a bunch of antis putting him out of business. The market spoke.

    Yeah if it wasn’t for SCSG, Lou, and A1 the shows would be worthless to me.

    Chinese junk and over priced AR stuff.

    Sub2ks for 500

    Honestly does suck to see the shows go away but it currently isn’t their time. Unless it’s a trade in gun or a mil surp. Whatever someone is hawking i could get it cheaper online, without haggling, and smelling that one douchebags farts who hot cranked an egg fart in the middle isle then trailed it all the way down!!!! They need to start selling tan underwear at these shows so Mr Raw meat dinner could hide the butt spit from his loose shutter speed. Whoever you are I’m going to ensure you get Ebola since your trying to infect as all with pink eye!

    BTW all this complaining comes from a guy who almost always goes to his FFL to buy anything gun related before going online.
     

    TexasBob

    Another day in Paradise
    MDS Supporter
    Oct 25, 2012
    2,485
    Space Coast
    Which ones do you like?

    I go to the Melbourne or Vero Beach Gun Show only $5 entry small 200 tables or so, the one at Orlando is larger the same distance I use to drive for the Nations show when I lived in Maryland, I'm going to check it out in Jan-Feb. :cool:


    I like the smaller shows where I can take my time and talk with the venders, use to go to the one at Equestrian Center Upper Marlboro before the Socialists in Monkey County started running PG County and shut it down, the small one in La Plata and the fair grounds up in Timonium where I first met Lee2 and Lou45 and got my first 91/30 and learned about MDShooter from them.
     
    Last edited:

    mawkie

    C&R Whisperer
    Sep 28, 2007
    4,337
    Catonsville
    Where to start...
    For us C&R guys the fact that 95% of imports dried up due to lack of goods or government bans made sure vendors didn't have a reliable supply of inventory for shows.
    Then you have the anti 2A environment in MD. HQL, ban the most popular rifle in the country, mag bans, fewer brick and mortar vendors in MD, etc. And this environment helped out-of-state dealers decide not to bother paying for tables in MD shows, too much hassle. Much easier to stick in your own backyard and make a buck. So as the years went on I saw fewer and fewer PA and VA dealers.
    The rise of internet sales also piled on. 35 yrs ago I obtained the vast majority of my acquisitions from local shows, dealers and the SGN. Today for me it's Gunbroker and live/internet auctions. You have so many other convenient options now that didn't exist 30 yrs ago. I rarely attend a show and truly cannot remember the last firearm acquisition made at a venue other than the huge MACA show in Timonium.
    What I do miss were seeing the dealers and other collectors I enjoyed chatting and doing business with. A human connection that's missing from our electronic world today. You get a little bit of that at live auctions (meeting buddies on Saturday in Gettysburg for instance). But not quite the same experience. Sad to see Frank and his sweet retrievers go!
     

    SavageShooter

    Active Member
    Jan 10, 2014
    644
    Arbutus, MD
    The shows in PA and VA that I go to are still healthy. It's nice to go and bull crap with people and handle firearms that I may be interested in. Yes I do buy from vendors also. You never know what you are going to see at a show. I've been surprised many times. I knew it was just a matter of time in MD it would be gone. Sure was something back in the day though.
     

    Digby

    Member
    Feb 19, 2014
    37
    Western Howard County
    I stopped going to those shows about 10 years ago. They were terrible even before the laws changed in MD in October 2013. The quality and value of the stuff on the tables declined to the point that the shows were more like flea markets. In the early 2000s, they were decent shows and worth the price of admission, particularly when you consider that they were local and easy to get to. I always attended the ones in Frederick, Howard County, and PG County. There were lots of out-of state vendors and the offerings were interesting. By the late 2000s, the shows had gotten so bad that I felt like they should be paying me to attend, instead of the other way around. Many of the stalwart vendors with the good stuff were gone and junk merchants took their place. Why that happened, I have no idea. However, I doubt that the decision to stop the shows has anything to do with the public's failure to support the 2A, but more about the old adage that if you don't give the public what it wants, it isn't going to show up at your events.
     

    Rambler

    Doing the best with the worst.
    Oct 22, 2011
    2,162
    Where to start...
    For us C&R guys the fact that 95% of imports dried up due to lack of goods or government bans made sure vendors didn't have a reliable supply of inventory for shows.
    Then you have the anti 2A environment in MD. HQL, ban the most popular rifle in the country, mag bans, fewer brick and mortar vendors in MD, etc. And this environment helped out-of-state dealers decide not to bother paying for tables in MD shows, too much hassle. Much easier to stick in your own backyard and make a buck. So as the years went on I saw fewer and fewer PA and VA dealers.
    The rise of internet sales also piled on. 35 yrs ago I obtained the vast majority of my acquisitions from local shows, dealers and the SGN. Today for me it's Gunbroker and live/internet auctions. You have so many other convenient options now that didn't exist 30 yrs ago. I rarely attend a show and truly cannot remember the last firearm acquisition made at a venue other than the huge MACA show in Timonium.
    What I do miss were seeing the dealers and other collectors I enjoyed chatting and doing business with. A human connection that's missing from our electronic world today. You get a little bit of that at live auctions (meeting buddies on Saturday in Gettysburg for instance). But not quite the same experience. Sad to see Frank and his sweet retrievers go!

    You are absolutely correct. It is a combination of factors that doomed the Maryland Gun Shows. I have fond memories of going to shows. It was great when I worked for the University of MD College Park taking grad students, some of them from foreign countries, to see what is (WAS) for sale openly in a free country. Times have changed in Marylandstan and the marketplace reflects that. I am all but certain that in my remaining lifetime I will not see a gun-friendly Maryland short of some sort of catastrophic change.
     

    Melnic

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 27, 2012
    15,282
    HoCo
    Saw some flyers at AGC Friday.
    Someone is picking up the slack and shows are coming back to MD
    For got the name of the promoter but I did see howard county and at least one other (frederick Or Timmonium)


    Edit:
    TheGunShows.com


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     

    ToolAA

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 17, 2016
    10,500
    God's Country
    Saw some flyers at AGC Friday.
    Someone is picking up the slack and shows are coming back to MD
    For got the name of the promoter but I did see howard county and at least one other (frederick Or Timmonium)


    Edit:
    TheGunShows.com


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



    While I was at the York show one of the the SCSG guys were saying that the promoter who does Timonium has picked up Howard CO and Frederick.

    Hopefully they come back in style.
     

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