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Gun Shows Are Hot in Florida
Bucks for the Bang: The election of Barack Obama has been a boon for gun dealers, and with more than 200 gun shows a year, few markets are hotter than Florida.
The Consumers
For gun buyers, the draw is a vast selection, price and negotiable prices, says show promoter Bill Page. Large dealers can sell 500 to 600 guns a show, he says. [Photo: Kelly LaDuke] |
West Palm Beach — Gun show operator Bill Page turns to the crowd at his gun show at the South Florida Fairgrounds in West Palm Beach and asks a question that he answers himself: “Who do you see here? Middle America.”
The aisles indeed are filled with seniors, parents pushing kids in strollers and Average Joes. As if on cue, an elderly fellow in a motorized wheelchair rolls by, a rifle propped on the footboard. And, reflecting the biggest change in Page’s decades in the business, there are plenty of women who’ve come to buy and sell. Women comprise 16% of Florida’s concealed weapons licensees. Says the shirt on one lady, “If you can read this, you’re in range.”
Page says his Melbourne-based Sport Show Specialists saw attendance rise 12% last year, following gains of 8% and 10% in the two prior years. For buyers, the draw is a vast selection, price and negotiable prices, Page says. Large dealers can sell 500 to 600 guns a show, he says.
After more than 40 years in the business, Page ought to know. The 66-year-old has an outdoorsman’s piercing eyes. He’s hunted in British Columbia and Zimbabwe. He owns 15 submachine guns, machine guns and sniper rifles and has a ready answer as to why. “Who buys a Corvette that has 650 horse when the speed limit’s 70? Everybody has something they enjoy doing.” He reckons he buys 400 billboards a year to promote his 26 shows.
Like at all gun shows, a big draw is the concealed weapons permit class. “CONCEALED WEAPONS PERMIT CO RSE AT SHOW,” reads a sign with a missing letter on a worn truck outside. Attendance boomed after law enforcement disintegrated in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. On a Saturday morning, 81 people — one in 10 of them women — go through a class put on by Hollywood-based IPS. Walter Philbrick, a judo champion and retired police officer, says his company has taught 150,000 people in the past 15 years.
Bill Page stages 26 gun shows a year. “Who do you see here? Middle America.” [Photo: Florida Today Archive] |
For many, the show is just entertainment. Two men stop at a table to admire a custom-made rifle with a gleaming stock and intricate inlaid design. Says the seller behind the table, “It’s a work of art — like a Picasso.”