Guns show enthusiasts have a blast

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

WASILLA - The fact that thousands of guns were stacked all over Wasilla High School this weekend didn't seem to faze anyone.

The way thousands of people slowly browsed by more than 100 display tables, you might think it was a Christmas bazaar or craft fair, except for the fact that many attendees wore cowboy hats, boots and camouflage gear. Others walked around with six-shooters on their hips or hunting rifles slung over their shoulders.

"I love guns," said Dennis Hopper, a firearms manufacturer and member of the Alaska Machine Gun Association. "I killed my first deer with a 16-gauge shotgun when I was five years old, so I have a great respect for guns."

Hopper wasn't alone. The many men and occasional women who packed Wasilla High this weekend were there for a variety of reasons, but many shared a passion for firearms that would be hard to rival.

Palmer resident Ken Walker was there to find antique rifles and cap and ball revolvers.

"For its size this is a better gun show than in Anchorage," he said. "You get a lot more traditional hunting guns and a wider variety of good, traditional, American firearms."

Longtime Valley resident Charlie Marsh said he's been selling sporting rifles and pistols at gun shows for decades. He said he enjoys talking to people at the shows and watching the interesting characters mill about.

Surrounded by booths hawking everything from zebra skin rugs to dragon-slaying swords, Marsh said gun shows have changed over the years.

"They've gotten to the point that people have too much to choose from," he said. "I sell more traditional guns, but nowadays I see more trinkets being sold than guns."

Dressed in cowboy hats, bandanas, six-shooters and leather vests, half a dozen middle-aged men stood around the Alaska 49ers Cowboy Action Shooting Club booth. These men love the frontier days of America and, for certain occasions, dress up and walk around like legends from the Old West. Over the weekend, they were recruiting gun lovers for their old-style pistol- shooting competitions in Palmer.

A few booths down, the Alaska Machine Gun Association had a display of more modern machine guns, silencers and assault weapons.

Andy, who requested that his last name not be used, sat at a table full of handguns and rifles, both semiautomatic and automatic. He wasn't selling the automatic guns because of the lengthy FBI background checks that are required. Andy is a private seller, and he said most of his sales Saturday were handguns for home-defense purposes.

As members of the AMGA, Andy and his friend, Hopper, participate in a number of recreational machine gun shoots and competitions at the Birchwood Outdoor Range.

Hopper collected machine guns for years before he began manufacturing them himself several years ago. He now builds custom-made firearms for federal agencies, police departments and the Alaska State Troopers.

While he admits that there are serious problems in society, Hopper said guns are an American tradition that ought not to be taken from law-abiding citizens. The main problem, he said, is education.

To that end, his organization hosts an annual Youth Day Shoot, in which hundreds of children receive instruction on gun operation and safety.

"I come from a family that fed off the land, and to me, guns are tools like shovels or lawn mowers," he said. "In Alaska, with our rural lifestyle, a firearm is nothing more than a tool to get your dinner."

Contact Joel Davidson at joel.davidson@frontiersman.com.