Scattergun Scamper; Gun Ban Gone? GunFax By William Miller October Gun Shows To open this month, the Gun Collectors Association of Indiana brings a show to the Tipton 4-H Community Building on the weekend of the 2nd & 3rd. On Oct. 9th only, there will be a Military Collectibles Show at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Crown Point. While there will be no modern guns or firearms at this show, they will have modern gun parts and antique guns and offer antique gun appraisals. On the 10th only, Midwest Gun Traders presents a show at Fort Wayne's Allen County Fairgrounds. On the 9th & 10th, Central Indiana Gunshows comes to Warsaw's National Guard Armory. The 16th & 17th features Central Indiana Gunshows at the Scottsburg National Guard Armory, Clay City Shooting Sports at the New Albany Armory, and C.P.I. at Fort Wayne's Allen County Memorial Coliseum & Expo Center. Always a fun event, the Northern Indiana Gun Collectors Assoc., Inc. Gun Show will be held in Nappanee at Borkholder's Dutch Village on Oct. 30th only. The village has a huge craft mall, art gallery, antique mall, flea market, handmade furniture, pastry shop, and restaurant including Amish home cooking! To close out the month on the weekend of the 29th, 30th & 31st, the Indy 1500 Gun & Knife Show comes to the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis. For the very latest gun show information, details, and maps, please see my Big List of ALL Indiana Gun Shows at gunfax.com. John Kerry on Hunting I'd heard this story from various sources, so I decided to track it down. It's from the July 5, 2004, edition of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. John Kerry wants so much for you to believe he's just like you. Is he really? When asked about his favorite type of hunting, he had this to say: "Probably I'd have to say deer. It's tough, depending on where you are," said Kerry. "I go out with my trusty 12-gauge double-barrel, crawl around on my stomach. I track and move and decoy and play games and try to outsmart them. You know, you kind of play the wind. That's hunting." Really! Decoy? Play games? Outsmart them? A double-barreled shotgun on a deer hunt? If so, it's probably not the kind they'd sell at Wal- Mart. And why would he be crawling around on his stomach? Does he mean he slithers underneath fences like a snake instead of climbing them? I thought he only sat on fences. No, I take that back: Earlier this year, he did vote in favor of a failed attempt to extend the so-called "assault weapons" ban. Gun Ban a Goner? I'll close my eyes and grit my teeth here: By the time you read this, the 1994 Clinton gun ban should have mercifully expired. Now the post- 1994 era begins. As the smoke clears, I think there were three effects of the ban I'd consider most important. Since the supply of grandfathered guns and magazines was artificially frozen, the prices went way up. Also, reduced choices and the ridiculous basis of the law frustrated gun owners. As an Armalite statement put it, "The AW Ban is a cosmetic law, and we’d all like to own rifles without the blemishes that it established". Last but not least, as Bill Clinton admitted in his recent book, the passage of the ban was a significant factor in the Democrats' losing control of Congress in 1994. Manufacturers have been getting ready. Armalite has been offering their Post-PostBan Rifle Program, designed to "prepare purchasers for any outcome" as they "avoid the risk of delay, yet also have the benefits of a change in law". Their Prepaid PreBan Rifle Program reminds potential buyers that the rifles currently produced (as this is written) are still required to mark them "RESTRICTED LAW ENFORCEMENT / GOVERNMENT USE ONLY". They also say it may be some time before new models of the pre-1994 type guns are available. Actually, they must have waited before manufacturing the frame or receiver only, not all the rest of the parts. It's the frame or receiver that legally makes a firearm, after all. Probably the most immediate and useful effect of the ban's demise is the renewed availability of high-capacity ammunition magazines at reasonable market prices. A former co-worker of mine is a reserve deputy, and more than once he's teased me about the low prices he was paying. Supplies of magazines that hold more than ten rounds should be heading up and prices should be heading down. Plus, the number of cases of "loader's thumb" you suffer should be reduced, too, since you won't have to fill so many magazines to enjoy an afternoon of shooting fun!