RIFLES, handguns, shotguns, pistols, grenades, ammunition and knives — a smorgasbord of weapons is on sale at massive gun shows across America.
Customers at one major exhibition in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, inspect the array of merchandise at the stalls and try out shooting poses with their favourites.
For an international visitor, it’s strange to see attendees stroll casually through the car park with rifles slung over their shoulders and children at their side.
“Some see a shooting range,” reads a sign over one stall. “I see a 2nd Amendment theme park.”
The complex is packed with families pushing babies in prams and kids who are already learning to shoot targets and hunt with their parents. Attendees pay $12 entry, a stall costs $80 and children under 12 get in free.
But if you’re Australian, you might not be the most popular person at one of these events.
As news.com.au explored the Harrisburg Gun Show, a large man in a neon orange shirt strode up to us. “You guys are gonna have to leave,” organiser Steven Elliott told us, after discovering where we were from.
“I’ve dealt with the Australian people before, they know full well they’re not allowed in any of my shows.”
He said Australians had been “rude” and “ugly” to him at past events, and even alleged media had tried to run him over in a car.
Steven’s company, C&E Gun Shows, held its first exhibition in Salem, Virginia in 1986, and now runs almost 100 events across six states each year. He is helped by his son Robbie, fiancee Sheila and their friends, but it can be an exhausting and stressful business.
Sheila, who met Steven at a shooting range, says the vendors worry about people taking photographs because thieves target the shows, with some guns
