“‘It is a little bit of something for everyone,’ one merchant says.”
Richard Stuebner, owner of Dick’s Gun Shop in Sinking Spring, at his display table during the recent gun show at the Leesport Farmers Market. (PHOTO: Reading Eagle: Bill Uhrich)

By Ford Turner, Reading Eagle

“Some of the biggest gun emporiums in Berks County only last a day or two.

“They are firearms shows of the sort held last weekend at Leesport Farmers Market, put together by Appalachian Promotions of Carlisle, Cumberland County.

“Potential customers were charged $7 a person on Saturday or Sunday to step inside and shop. Forty-two dealers selling guns, ammunition and accessories occupied 220 tables.

“‘They might have 15 or 20 people go through their shop in one day,’ said Appalachian owner John Lamplugh, who organizes shows at Leesport four times a year. ‘I am going to put 5,000 people in front of them in two days. These guys would tell you their shops would not survive without these.’

“Hundreds of weapons were laid out for shoppers when the show opened Saturday morning.

“‘There are people who are into hunting rifles,’ John Barone, owner of J&D Sports in Tulpehocken Township, said of his fellow show vendors. ‘There are people who are into trap shooting. People who sell ammunition, which they only buy in bulk quantities. It is a little bit of something for everyone.‘

“‘There are guys here who collect Civil War rifles. It is literally from black powder all the way up to the latest rifles.’

“Barone’s wares included a carbine from the Spanish-American War era, selling for $989, and an M1903-A3 rifle from the World War II era, selling for $699.

“Barone said the Berks area is home to many veterans, or descendants of veterans, who like to keep firearms associated with the era in which they – or their father or grandfather – served.

“Ed Kennedy, owner of Ed’s Sport Shop in Tamaqua, Schuylkill County, said his business sells about 3,500 guns a year. As much as half of those sales are at gun shows.”

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