This may seem a little crazy to you, and honestly, I had no idea what to expect from what is essentially a market dedicated to weaponry, but as my good friend Gabrielle Smith would say, when in Rome!
Ian has lived in Texas for the past five years, but had never been to one of these either, so us two curious Brits drove over to Fort Worth, about 30 miles from Dallas, to come face to face with a bunch of people who chose to spend the first day of the new year perusing 1200 stalls of guns. (I appreciate that this is how Ian and I also spent the first day of the new year, but we were definitely the only ones there who weren't keen to find a bargain amongst the stands). I honestly could not believe the scale of the place. Not only was this room full of guns, knives, paraphernalia (we genuinely saw someone selling hand grenades), it was heaving with people.
I'm still actually a little bit at a loss for words. There was so much crazy stuff going on in that hall. There were stalls recruiting people for the NRA (National Rifle Association) with a sign saying: '10 Reasons to Join the NRA - #1 Barack Obama'. (Kids can join for only $15); there was knife sharpening - ("you need 7 good knives to have a complete set"); there were women advertising their special handbags as 'gun purses - the perfect way to stay safe and look good'; there was even a man selling books on how to make your own disposable silencers. Disposable home-made silencers. I mean, can you imagine walking around a place where there are enough weapons to arm roughly 25,000 people, and when you look at your neighbours, you can be certain that 95% of them would know exactly how to use them.
There were a lot of self defence stalls too, selling everything from rape alarms to tazers. There were a few things I found a bit amusing on one particular stall:
Walking weights with pepper spray. So now you can exercise and defend yourself at the same time! Or there was the mace that dyed your attacker's face blue so that it would make him easily distinguishable to the police (that is actually quite clever).
Guns are not just for men. You can make carrying a large rifle around more feminine if you store it in one of these:
And they didn't stop at selling guns as weapons. There were all sorts of gun-related accessories that you could buy, to show other people how much of a fan you are of the right to bear arms. How about a crucifix necklace, but to make it that bit more special, the cross is made from bullets. We love Jesus... and shooting things.
I know, I know, we chose to go there. And really, what else did I expect from a place that sells guns to be? I guess my point, if I have one at all, is how scary it is that guns are everyday objects here. People were there with their kids, it was a family day out. Can you imagine: "Well kids, tomorrow is Sunday, where shall we go after church? The zoo? A museum? Oh wait, the gun show is in town!"
As we left, with me especially in a mild state of shock, we walked past a load of motorbikes parked outside. One in particular caught my eye:
Thank you Mr. Hells Angel for bringing a smile to my face and lowering my raised eyebrows to their normal position. That is the best Christmas decorated bike I've ever seen. (It's also the only Christmas decorated bike I've ever seen, but that is beside the point.)
I may be living in Texas now, but I think I've had my fair share of the Wild West side of things for a while.
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