SFist Goes to the Gun Show
Yes, we went to the Crossroads of the West Gun Show at the Cow Palace this weekend. Why? Aren't we supposed to be virulently anti-gun? Shouldn't we hate not just guns but people who like guns? Well, maybe. But we actually thought going was a no-brainer. After all, we live in a city in which watching somebody leading another person in their bondage slave gear is considered normal but a guy in pickup truck with "Vegetarian is an Indian Word For Lazy" isn't and there's a lot more of the later than the former in this country. We like checking out things that we don't normally get to check out and a gun show definitely fits into that category. Let's put it another way, any event that has to go out of it's way to make everyone aware that paraphernalia glorifying Nazism isn't allowed has to be seen to be believed.
Now, we were going to feature a collection of our usual amateur photos but we can't this time around. Why? Because the moment we pulled out a camera to take a picture inside the gun show, two security guard types immediately came out of nowhere to tell us that no pictures would be allowed. And not only that, they would have to ask that any picture we had taken be deleted.
Now, you might say that the ban against photo taking is a little-- what's the word-- ironic considering all the signs proclaiming the importance of following Constitutional amendments. You might also think it slightly ironic that a place full of pictures, posters, bumper stickers, and patches stating that any government interference is bad interference is a little skittish about someone taking pictures.
Why, we dunno and we didn't ask. We could have argued all this logically. We could have even made an issue out of all of this but we didn't. See, you have to consider where we were, at a gun show. We just had this feeling that the sound we’d hear the moment we protested would be the sound of a hundred guns being cocked and loaded and aimed at our general direction.
The question has to be asked, though, is why no photos? Is it because they might be skirting loopholes and possibly doing something illegal? In a place full of law and order paraphernalia and authentic police badges? Could a place selling all sorts of bumper stickers discussing the joys of shooting illegal aliens for their illegality be doing something illegal? Or maybe it's just because they're a little sensitive about how they might be portrayed by snark-infueled bloggers. After all, entire shelves full of Confederate flag paraphernalia might be considered embarrassing to those afraid of looking that way. But then again, if maybe having bumper stickers saying, "The South is Right" makes you embarrassed, maybe you shouldn't sell them.
So how was the gun show, then? Well, as expected, there were tons of guns there. New guns and old guns, guns with laser beams that helped you focus and guns that just shot pellets. There were antique guns and cutting edge guns and guns from every place in the world. There were also bullets and tasers and pepper sprays and security cameras and gum that shocked potential thieves and cases to hold your guns (here's something we learned-- people who like guns do so partly because their absolutely convinced people are about to rob them the moment they get rid of their gun). There was also a Going Out of Legality sale on bulletproof vests as those damn Democrats managed to get them banned. Oh, and there was jewelry too as well as pretty rocks ("honey, I know you don't like me spending a thousand dollars on Serbian made rifles but I brought you a necklace to make up for it”).
There were also lots of trinkets to be had from all sorts of place around the world-- we even threw down for some Soviet-era Russian pins. Which brings up one nice, harmonious, heart warming thought about all this in that there were booths set up by Japanese gun dealers and Russian gun dealers, two nations that we once considered enemies. Hell, there were all sorts of things to buy letting everyone know what we Americans thought of those Evil Communist bastards. Yet there they were, selling their wares, embraced by the dealers for their love of all things explosive. The dreaming idealist in us felt warmed by all this and made a silent prayer that one day; hopefully one day soon, there'll be a booth of people from the Middle East selling kitschy Al Qeda instruction manuals and bomb-rigged jackets.
And yes, there were your freaks there and also not so-freaks there. Normal people love guns too. Hell, there were even a few hipsters strewn across the survivalists, gun nuts, and paranoid militia types. And yes, as evidenced by all the stars and bars paraphernalia and the occasional t-shirt proclaiming edicts that all sounded like Metallica tunes, your average nut job too, although we did get a kick out of the "PETA: People who Eat Tasty Animals" t-shirt.
But for those wondering what something so un-San Francisco could be doing in San Francisco there was evidence that even there, in the heart of the enemy, those oft referred to "San Francisco Values" were still evident. Because while waiting in line to buy a bottle of water from a coffee cart the Cow Palace had set up, two middle-aged gun nuts in full green catalogue and beards ordered two flavored lattés from the coffee barista. See, even there, a little part of San Francisco still lives.