Had quite the gun experience at lunchtime today. I've long known of a gunshop in the city where I work with a, well, eccentric owner. The shop is located on the verge of a rundown section of town. The front has a tall chain link fence with a German shepard attendant (who can damn near jump over the fence; thankfully my buddy who went with me has bad ankles...). A second shepard was inside the front door, also eager to say hi.

The sign for the shop advertises guns, harleys, and TVs. A bit of a mix. The owner, a man in his late 60's, came out to see what we wanted. The shop used to have regular hours, but is now by appointment only. We were lucky he was there, or it would have been a wasted trip. He guided us in after closing off the first shep (careful of dog bombs!) and taking the 2nd inside the actual gunshop. Upon entry in the first room, we were greeted with a strong odor du dog, as well as several bikes well covered in dust. We then did the doggy shuffle to get into the shop. Ooh rah.

The first thing I noticed was guns hanging from the ceiling, the first a Franchi Spas 12 ($1700) with the hook. Yep. hanging from the ceiling. On what looks like metal clothshangers. Good thing I'm not over 6 ft, as I had a bit of ducking to do as it was. Many guns were so suspended. The shop was poorly lighted. He would either turn on lights as we went or come over with a flashlight. Many early SP1s, various AK47s, post and preban, garands, a Springfield M1A, a Model B Uzi, a mint HK91 with HK bipod ($2700), a Streetsweeper 12 g, a 1917 Chauchat, a WWII Browning BAR semi auto, and many many others...and huge numbers of handguns, many quite collectible. Many Lugers, Broomhandle Mausers, vintage S$Ws, old Colts, both 6 shooters and early 1911s. I was a bit agog at the content. You could see a S$W 52 next to a Wildey. The full range of old collectible to target to combat pistols. If you don't mind dust (LOTS of it, including on the uncased guns) and doggy doodoo, this might be the shop for you!

He has no prices listed, and has 3,000 guns in stock (according to the Yellow pages add). I can almost believe it. If you see something you like, you ask. The man is all to aware of current black rifle pricing (and then some). Definitely not your trip to the local WAL-MART gun section.

He also had quite a number of mini cannons and old swords. Something for everyone. I chuckled a bit when I saw an old Atari system tossed in a box on one of his counters. I used to love Asteroids...

Yep, all in all, an interesting trip. Hey, you guys should look around. You too may have a little slice of the twilight zone in a city near you.