Local gun show offers top-notch firearm selection and more, for a day of family fun.
Taking aim on its eighth year, the High Desert Gun Show, March 10-11 in Silver City, has grown to be more than just the most successful local guns-and-ammo showcase. In addition to a wide range of firearms and accessories, such as cases, locks and gun safes, the show also has vendors selling turquoise and silver jewelry, military antiques, non-firing weapons like knives and swords, T-shirts and novelties. The event, cosponsored by the High Desert Sportsman's Club and the Silver City Lions Club, helps raise money for the organizations and the sporting and community-service programs they support.
The gun show saw record crowds last year, with more admissions by noon on Saturday than usually arrive during the whole day; it broke the 1,000-ticket mark.
Lions Club vice president Ron Belanger says the organizers are ready for another record-breaking year, with around 50 vendors signed up for more than 80 tables. The Lions Club will have a food concession, selling green chile stew, hamburgers, hot dogs, bratwurst and more, Belanger says, with all of the profits going to the clubs' charities.
This show also marks the cosponsoring sportsman's club's 10th year, according to vendor coordinator Don Darnell.
There also will be tables at the show where interested parties can join the clubs, or register for Concealed Carry Weapon (CCW) permit classes. There will be knife-sharpening demonstrations and a display by the fish and game department, Belanger says, and local author Dutch Salmon will talk about his sporting books and sign copies.
Participants can bring their own guns to sell or trade. Private parties do not need a license to sell, but out-of-state gun sellers must work through a local gun dealer. Bob Messner, president of the sportsman's club, says safety controls are in place at the show to handle the public arriving with firearms. "All guns are checked at the door, we make sure there is no ammo in them, and we put a safety on it," he says.
Belanger says the Lions will use money from the event to support the shooting-sports arm of the Grant County Senior Olympics team, the 4H Silver City Air Pistol and Rifle team, the Fort Bayard Bingo program and the Lions Club's well-known eye and diabetes services, among others.
In addition to fees for the vendors' tables and admission fees, the groups will again raise money with raffles. Tickets for a pickup truck will be sold at the gun show, though the prize will not be awarded until a later drawing. Funds from that contest will help sponsor the New Mexico Lions Band, a group of 40 high school students chosen from across the state, in competition.
A .22-caliber rifle will be raffled off at the show by the end of the day Sunday. Messner described the firearm as "a good family gun," defining that as a gun whose size and caliber would make it easy to use by the various members of a family, whether male or female, tall or small.
Noting that previous attendees have called the gun show "the best one around," Bellanger says the event is the ultimate area showcase for all sorts of firearms. "For old guns, vintage guns, really unique guns, this is the place to be," he says.
"And we've really got something for everybody with all these vendors and things going on," he adds. "It's a great way to spend the day with the family, and you know your money is going to something good, too."
—Donna Clayton Lawder
High Desert Gun Show, March 10, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., and March 11, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. National Guard Armory, Santa Clara, Hwy. 180, 5 miles east of Silver City. $4 for adults; free for children under 12 (accompanied by an adult), military and police personnel in uniform. For more info, call 544-4937 or 534-1138.