Gun Show: Day 1
I spent about 4 hours today at the local gun show. The majority of that time was at the Ron Paul 2008 both trying to get information on Dr. Paul into folk’s hands.
I’m not terribly surprised but what I saw today, but it was still a bit strange at times.
I’d say about half the people that would give us the time of day had heard of Ron Paul. This is about what I’d expect. People that’ll roll up to a political booth are likely keeping tabs on the election better than your average stranger off the street.
While not a majority a fair number of people that chatted with us were very familiar with Ron Paul but stated that they didn’t vote any more. They had usually given up on the matter for a decade or so. One said, “If I ever vote again, it’ll be for Ron Paul, but I’m just not sure it’s worth my time.” This person also commented on 9/11 being an inside job, and that he knew somebody that could confirm SEAL Team 6 was in NOLA and killed about 40 people there.
Reality aside: Who the fuck says something like that to a perfect stranger?
There were a good number of folks that walked up and when asked, “Have you heard of Ron Paul?” responded in the affirmative and proceeded to ask how much for the bumper stickers, yard signs, DVDs, etc. That was nice to see. For the record: They’re free for the taking.
For folks that were interested in the booth they seemed to be willing to scoop up material on the guy and I think they were the types that would actually read it. That’s good.
Another point of interest is that there was only one other Republican booth there: Mitt Romney. That was interesting. The booth was manned by paid staffers. The Ron Paul booth was manned by volunteers. I snagged some of the Romney campaign material on the 2nd amendment and it seems he’s our guy because he reduced the licensing restrictions on target pistols, helped clarify the legal status of a muzzle loader, and extended the license period for guns in general.
Well, that’s just super!
Meanwhile, the officlal Ron Paul hand-out on the 2nd amendment talked about his introduction of a bill to repeal the assault weapons ban, to remove the instant backround check requirement, and the highlighted portion on the front of the brochure clearly stated that the 2nd amendment isn’t about hunting, and it isn’t about self defense, it’s our defence against tyranny.
There was only one person that was openly hostile to us. I found that surprising because it was only one. When a member asked him, in passing, if he had hear of Ron Paul he said, “Yeah, I have… and you guys are in the wrong place. He’s against the war!” I would have actually enjoyed chatting with the man but he didn’t seem up for that. I’m sure I wouldn’t have changed his mind, and that wouldn’t be my goal, but I would like to know why he’d put execution of a foreign war above his right to keep and bear arms. He was obviously well informed of the various candidates in this election, and that’s the type of person I want to talk to.