Waterville gun show 'Guns more politically correct since Sept. 11'

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Waterville gun show 'Guns more politically correct since Sept. 11' By ALAN CROWELL Staff Writer, Copyright c 2001 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. E-mail this story to a friend WATERVILLE - Standing behind a display of handguns and rifles, Dick Taylor said his sales did not skyrocket after Sept. 11, but he has noticed one change. "Since Sept. 11, guns have become a lot more politically correct," said Taylor, of China, who mostly sells collectible and antique guns. Staff photo by DAVID LEAMING Bruce Staples, of Staples Gun Shop, Inc. in Skowhegan, shows a rifle to a customer during a gun show on Sunday at Champion Fitness Club in Waterville. "As a gun dealer, if I went to a party before, you really didn't mention you were a gun dealer," he said. Now, he said public perceptions have shifted. For the first time, he noted, there are discussions of arming pilots on planes. "If you had mentioned that six months ago, everybody would have been up in arms," he said. Taylor and other gun dealers at a gun show at Champions Fitness Club Sunday said that while there may have been a slight increase in gun sales after the attacks, the economic downturn that followed played a much bigger role in their business. In a positive sign for the economy, Taylor said he has seen signs of increased sales in the past month or so. Attendance Saturday and Sunday of the gun show organized by DiPrete Promotions Inc. was strong, according to event officials. "I think it has been excellent," said Patricia DiPrete, of DiPrete Promotions. "I think it has been up from previous years but I wouldn't say it was a record." She said gun dealers at the show have to run background checks on all potential buyers, although buyers of antique guns are not required to have background checks. She said sales seemed to be brisk. Firearms of every description, including handguns, derringers, antique revolvers and machine guns were on display. Neil Whitcomb, gunsmith at Jim's Gun Shop of Winslow, said Jim's has sold four handguns at the show, each for a different purpose, including target shooting. Only one was sold for home protection he said. Like Taylor, he said, any increase in handguns following Sept. 11, was small and short-lived. Andre Cote, of Lakeside Arms of Topsham, presided over a display of machine guns, a sawed-off shotgun and several handguns equipped with silencers. Several of the machine guns cost $8,000 or more and an M-60 machine gun carried a $18,000 price tag. Over the course of a year, Cote said he may sell a dozen guns in the $8,000 price range, but he said he comes to gun shows primarily to correct people's misperceptions about ownership of machine guns. Cote said that it is legal to buy a machine gun, although federal law requires payment of a transfer tax, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms screens all applicants. Most of his customers are interested in machine guns for use in shooting sports or as an investment. Because Congress banned the import for individuals and the domestic manufacture of machine guns in 1986, the supply of the weapons has remained static while demand has increased, he said. Each time laws are passed to place tighter controls on sales of semiautomatic guns, the value of machine guns rises, he said. A silencer might be purchased by someone who wants to engage in recreational shooting and not bother neighbors, he said. Cote said that the attitude of both the national media and the public tends to shift depending on who is in the White House. With George W. Bush in the Oval Office, attitudes have become noticeably more positive toward gun ownership, he said. Alan Crowell 474-9534, Ext. 342 http://www.centralmaine.com/news/stories/020121gun_show.shtml