Talk:Gun shows in the United States

When was the first U.S. gun show?
Here's a question that I cannot find an answer to in this article. When was the first U.S. gun show? Lightbreather (talk) 21:49, 3 February 2015 (UTC)
 * It was probably April 19, 1775, or very soon thereafter. Seriously. They date to whenever you consider the U.S. to have begun.  Muskets were being bought by private citizens in large numbers from neighbors in the town squares, or in stables, when raining, at about that time.  U.S. gun shows likely started before the founding of the Republic. They were also part of the annual rendezvous of the mountain men, in the 1830's, by which time the attendance was around 400-500, annually.   Incidentally, I personally first attended gun shows around 1961, and I know my grandfather had attended them when he was a youngster, which would have been around 1893. He claimed his grandfather had attended them too as a youngster, which would have been around 1840. They were considered just a specialized kind of flea market. The American gun culture and gun shows date to before the founding of the Republic.  Miguel Escopeta (talk) 22:16, 3 February 2015 (UTC)
 * Here's one reference, that pin points 1824 as when the annual rendezvous began. So, it was before then.  Miguel Escopeta (talk) 22:29, 3 February 2015 (UTC)
 * Thanks. I will read that. I just thought it strange that I couldn't find a "History of Gun Shows in America" book or article. Lightbreather (talk) 22:54, 3 February 2015 (UTC)
 * There is another book reference that provides some discussion covering since 1938 here. Miguel Escopeta (talk) 23:22, 3 February 2015 (UTC)

That first one isn't really about gun shows. It's about "fur trappers' rendezvous" that occurred from 1824 through 1841, at which they could trade "their pelts for blankets, beads, knives, guns, and, of course, whiskey." The second one is without a doubt about gun shows, but it doesn't say that they started in 1938 - it just says that since 1938 "people engaged in the business of selling firearms have been required to get a federal firearms license." --Lightbreather (talk) 23:38, 7 April 2015 (UTC)

Safety
"Gun rights advocates" push legislation allowing people to bring loaded guns into bars, courtrooms, city council meetings, and schools because, they say, that'll make those places safer. So where are loaded guns still banned? You guessed it: gun shows. Why? Well, duh: that'd be unsafe. I kid you not: I looked at some of the shows' rules. It's fine for judges and business patrons and politicians and school children to face crazy or drunk or negligent gun slingers. But god-forbid the gun dealers might be exposed to all that flying lead. It'd be hilarious if it weren't so fucking sad. I dunno if I can find a proper secondary source for this, but it oughta be in the article, along with the rest of how these weapons bazaars are run, who profits from them, etc. The laws and shit are important, but there's a lot more to say than that. Felsic (talk) 20:34, 6 February 2015 (UTC)

Misplaced study?
''The only peer-reviewed study on background checks for the private transfers of guns that looked at data for all the states that have passed these laws has been done in various editions of John Lott's "More Guns, Less Crime" (3rd edition, 2010). Nineteen states that had such regulations during the years from 1977 to 2005 were examined. Murder and robbery showed slight increases while these laws were in effect, but the increases were not statistically significant. Part of the impact is on who these universal background checks prevent from buying guns. In New York, today’s background checks add about $80 to the cost of transferring a gun. In Washington State, they add about $60. In Washington, D.C., they add $200. In effect, these laws put a tax on guns and can prevent less affluent Americans from purchasing them. This disproportionately affects poor minorities who live in high-crime urban areas. His book also reported that states that adopted the gun show regulations saw a 20 percentage point drop in the number of gun shows in the state. ''

This stuff ain't about gun shows. The last sentence is, but it's gonna take a lotta rewriting to fit. The rest is about background checks. There's gotta be a better article for it. Felsic2 (talk) 01:58, 8 March 2016 (UTC)


 * I don't have a strong opinion about this so far, but related articles include Gun show loophole and Universal background check. — Mudwater (Talk) 03:09, 8 March 2016 (UTC)
 * Someone wants everyone to know about it. Probably belongs in one of those articles. Felsic2 (talk) 01:58, 9 March 2016 (UTC)

SHOT Show
Recently a new section about the SHOT Show was added, here. But my understanding is that that's a trade show, and that the general public can't go there and buy individual firearms at a retail level. Is that correct? If it is, then the section should be removed from the article, because the SHOT Show is not a "gun show" in the sense of the subject of this article, and we don't want to confuse our readers. — Mudwater (Talk) 00:31, 10 March 2016 (UTC)
 * I know it's only open to gun industry people. No idea on whether any guns are offered for individual sale. It's certainly not the point of the show. Faceless Enemy (talk) 00:35, 10 March 2016 (UTC)
 * It's all about selling guns, perhaps at the wholesale level rather than the retail. But a reliable source has called it the largest gun show in the country. Any source that says it ain't a gun show? Any source that says "gun shows" have to be retail and allow all comers? Or are we making up our own definitions? Felsic2 (talk) 03:57, 10 March 2016 (UTC)
 * I added info on the attendees to distinguish it from retail gun shows. Felsic2 (talk) 05:07, 10 March 2016 (UTC)

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