1-22-2012 Jacksonville Gun & Knife Show Report
On Saturday (1-22-2012), I had the pleasure of attending the Jacksonville Gun & Knife show at the fairgrounds. One of the things I love most about this city is that there are usually 1 or 2 gun shows every month within a short drive (either Jacksonville, Palatka or St. Augustine). In my experience, however, the ones at the Fairgrounds and the Shriner’s Auditorium tend to be the best.
I should note that the last major show was held at the Prime Osborn Convention center which, for those of you that have never been to Jax, is our largest convention facility. Sadly, I couldn’t make it to that show but it’s nice to see the shows growing to the point that they need the extra space.
Anyway, the Fairground show. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to bring my camera so the only picture I have is for the initial line to get in taken with my iPhone.
If you want to see what the future, or at least the next year is going to bring, go to the SHOT show in Vegas. If you want to see the current state of the industry, go to your local show. From what I can tell at this show, the industry is in great shape. It was crowded and there were quite a few first time buyers. There were even a couple people from foreign countries that were there out of curiosity because, apparently, they don’t have anything like this back home. Beyond that, it’s difficult to really do a write up here because it was a gun show. There were people selling guns and people buying them. Lots of accessories and every type of crazy concealment device you could think of. That’s pretty much it.
I do have some significant observations, however:
- AR-15’s are the “in” thing right now. More than half the booths were dedicated to the AR-15 platform and its accessories. Tacticool is the word of the day and, as a geek, I have no problem with that. People like them because it’s an American design, standard issue in the US Military and you can customize it however you like and most of the upgrades don’t require a gunsmith. Don’t like the 5.56 ammo? Swap out the upper for a .300 AAC. Don’t want iron sights? Put on crazy optics and laser sights and IR scopes. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the Call of Duty and Battlefield video games might have a small amount to do with the popularity as well.
- Zombies, sadly, are also in. Lots of zombie themed guns, ammo, targets and more. I know that, in the gun world, they’re essentially a metaphor for disaster preparedness (at least that’s what I keep telling people) but if we want to shake the “crazy people and their guns” stigma that some people have, the zombie obsession isn’t helping. Besides, zombies are overplayed. Did you see that one movie where there was a group of survivors that had to get to a safe zone only to find it overrun with zombies then they have to find a survivor’s camp miles away but one of them was bitten and he doesn’t tell the rest of the group and they eventually make it to the refuge but the future is still uncertain? Of course you have because it’s every freaking movie! But I digress…
- I’ve said many times that women should love this sport because it truly has them on a level playing field. As stands, Women are embracing the industry and the industry is embracing back. There were all manor of items for women: purses, ankle holsters, pink guns, pink pepper spray, awesome stun guns, hunting rifles, apparel and more. It was great to see and I want to see more of it.
- http://www.floridapolicesupportteam.org is a great charity dedicated to providing bullet proof vests to police dogs and more. Give them money.
- If you wear a really cool hat, everyone will want to talk to you.
- There’s always someone selling exotic jerky at gun shows.
- There’s always someone there that will clean jewelry and other things. In this case, it was someone who would sonically clean your eyeglasses. I don’t have a joke for that but I’m working on it.
- The vendors that had big signs saying “Don’t Touch the Guns” didn’t do nearly as much business as the ones that let you play with the inventory. In my time there, I saw a lot more credit cards being handed over to the “more fun” vendors. For those vendors who keep your guns in glass cases, keep that in mind.
- It’s either a total shame or an incredibly good thing that none of the gun shows ever coincide with my pay schedule.
All in all, it was a great show and I met some great people. I look forward to the next one.
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