Paul Allison stands next to his display of handcrafted flintlock rifles Saturday at the Lancaster Gun Show in Lancaster. The show saw large crowds in light of the postponement of the Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show this week. Jeremy Arias, PennLive.com
By Jeremy Arias | PennLive.com
“LANCASTER — On the same day the Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show was scheduled to take place in Harrisburg, outdoorsmen and rifle enthusiasts flocked to the Lancaster Gun Show on Saturday.
“‘The crowd here today is probably double what it usually is,’ said Jim Kleppinger, chairman of the Lancaster Muzzle Loading Rifle Association, which has hosted the show since 1956. ‘We’ve probably already seen 1,000 people come through today.’
“Attendance is usually around 700 for Saturday and fewer, closer to 300, on Sunday for the two-day event, which kicked off at 8 a.m. Saturday in the Lancaster Farm and Home Center off Arcadia Road.
“Kleppinger and Stapleton attributed the crowds to the postponement of the Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show this week.”Vendors to that show began pulling out in protest, after the event organizer, Reed Exhibitions, announced Jan. 15 that it would not feature “tactical rifles” in the show.
“‘Part of it is the cancellation — let’s be honest, it’s been canceled — of the [Eastern Sports and Outdoors] show,’ admitted Kent Stapleton, another member of the muzzle loading association. ‘But a lot of people are buying guns as an investment against the recession.’
“Stapleton said he spoke with several visitors who were thinking of purchasing a gun to sell it for a profit when the market improved. Even more people were anxious over the increasing discussions among lawmakers at the state and federal level to crack down on gun control.”
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