By LEE HIGGINS
The State (South Carolina’s Home Page)
Florence — At the Land of the Sky Gun & Knife Show, people could buy everything from a 12-shot rubber band gun to a custom-built target rifle that can hit a soda can from 600 yards.
There were semi-automatic weapons for sale, too, and pistols galore, as thousands of people packed into the Florence Civic Center for the April show.
Gun shows are popular across South Carolina and throughout the year. Promoter Mike Kent expected the April show to post his second-largest turnout in six years.
And people were buying, Kent said.
Many were stockpiling ammunition, he said – buying it by the case. They feared the new Obama administration would push for higher taxes on it.
“The increase in turnout is directly related to the recent presidential election,” Kent said. “People are afraid Obama is going to ban guns, make them more difficult to obtain or increase taxes on them.”
Don Lipsey, owner of Rubber Band Guns, a Myrtle Beach-based vendor, was selling wooden rubber band guns for $10.95 each.
Lipsey was encouraging children to fire rubber bands at pictures of Osama bin Laden and Sadaam Hussein.
“We get ‘em started right young, with rubber band guns – shoot 12 at a time without reloading,” he said. “And there’s no background checks on these. If (people) just get out of jail, no problem.”
Background checks are big talk at gun shows. Licensed dealers are required by law to perform them. But gun collectors and other individuals are not. Law enforcement says that means anyone, including felons and young teens, can buy a gun there.
In Florence, pistols were hot.
James Cooper, 29, of Dillon County, planned to buy a pistol for the first time. then get a concealed weapons permit to carry the gun with him.
“In this day and age, it’s crazy out there,” he said. “Anything can happen.”
Darren Edwards, 38, of Chesterfield, near the N.C. state line, moved to South Carolina four years ago from Maryland. He, too, was at the show shopping for a pistol.
Edwards enjoys how popular guns are in the state.
“I can walk out my door and shoot my gun and my neighbors don’t think nothing of it,” he said.
If anyone poses a threat to gun rights, it is youths who use them irresponsibly, Edwards said.
“Morals and standards have gone down,” he said. “A lot of kids, parents would rather give them a time out than a hand across the butt.”
While pistols were popular, Jeremy B. Davis was selling an array of components for the semi-automatic AR-15. That included a 100-round circular magazine on sale for $300.
People have been rushing to buy any AR-15 components they can get their hands on, Davis said.
Especially popular were items once banned under the Clinton administration, such as high-capacity magazines, which Davis said hold more than 10 rounds.
Davis said people are fearing a similar ban will return.
On the night Barack Obama was elected president, Davis said, he sold 38,000 magazines from his Web site – more than three times the number sold on a typical night.
Lately, he said, people have been picking up parts as small as screws at his store in Waynesville, N.C., asking if they fit AR-15s, then buying them if the answer is ‘yes.’
“People are terribly afraid their rights are going to be infringed upon like they were under the Clinton administration,” he said.
“People are absolutely terrified,” he said. “A lot of people are in anticipation of a police state, terrorist attack, civil unrest. A lot of people are preparing to draw lines in the sand.”
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I found this site and had to post. I JUST had an experiance with Mr. Kent and his show in Columbia SC and had to put the wod out. I am a CCW permit holder, and a SC State Constable (volunteer/reserve police officer). I came to his event on Saturday, Dec 12 2009 and announced at the gun safety point that I was an LEO and armed. He stated that since I was a Constable and not a full-time LEO that I had to disarm before I could visit the show. I wrote him this letter the following Monday and check out me email and his response:
Mr. Kent,
I took a new lady friend to your event in Columbia SC yesterday. Being the honest person that I am I showed the front table my credentials and told them I was armed. Much to my shock and embarrassment, I was told I could not carry my weapon loaded/concealed in the show. I was told it was because of your insurance. If I were alone, I would have left and not gone back. But since I had a lady with me and she was shopping for a handgun, I went back to the vehicle, disarmed and went back in. That caused me and my lady friend to have to stand in line outside in the cold another 15 minutes to get in. The man at the table did offer to hold my ammo but there is no way I would give a stranger my ammo or any part of a firearm.
I am not a full-time compensated LEO but I am a VERY highly trained one. Most LEO only fire their weapons only once a year. I fire as much as ammunition availability will let me which is at least four times a year including shooting scenarios and exercises. In fact, I logged 608 LE hours including patrol and training the past four quarters.
I have to wonder how many thugs or dishonest people went in there with concealed weapons. You have no idea do you? You don’t search or have a metal detector do you? What if one of the scumbags I locked up was in there armed? How would it look if I were shot and killed by one of them and it was discovered I was not allowed to be armed? How well would that sit with your insurance? I’m sure my family would get a much larger settlement than if I were a civilian. I will never come to your event again. I will spread the word to my fellow Constables and to other LEO’s in the state so they can decide if your practice of not allowing reserve officers to carry warrants their business. There is another gun show in town that comes to the Jamil Temple as frequently as yours. I’ll go there from now on. Not only do they let me in armed, THEY LET ME IN FREE! I have been to my last Land of the Sky Gun Show.
KENT’S Response:
Thank you Mr. DAC_SC, Nothing would please me more than to have you NOT attend any more of my events. Wannabe law enforcement officers such as yourself are what give all constables a bad name. In fact, the last time a constable confronted me about carrying a loaded weapon in my show and using his credentials to gain free admission to the show, I spoke with my SLED contact in Columbia and had his commission pulled the next day. I appreciate you being so honest as to give me your name and contact number so I can once again contact SLED to alert them of a poser using his credentials to badger civilians. I think the title of your e-mail says it all. You just made a “bad choice” Mr. DAC_SC. Sincerely,Mike KentPresident, Land of the Sky Gun Shows
You decide……………..
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