Brothers in arms: Residents converge on gun show

A joke going around about public safety is that pizza delivery is faster than law enforcement, a gun show browser in Carson City said Friday.

That’s no criticism of sheriff’s offices or the State Patrol in budget-cutting times, but it gives pause regarding the gun-control debate, said Tim Ramos of Douglas County. He said there isn’t much logic to restrictions leaving people unarmed, particularly in rural areas where law enforcement isn’t nearby.

“What is the logic in that?” Ramos asked, posing a rhetorical question.

It likely wasn’t an uncommon sentiment at the Carson City Gun Show at the Carson Nugget, which opened Friday. It continues from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. today.

Admission is $6, though children younger than 16 with an adult, active military members and law enforcement personnel get in free.

Ramos, who has collected his weapons since moving to Nevada from the Bay Area a decade ago, browsed and took the opportunity afterward to lunch in downtown Carson City. He said he is a target shooter, not a hunter, but indicated his weapons provide safety in an uncertain world.

Ramos, a deep-sea diving instructor for four decades before he retired, said background checks and registration don’t bother him, but removing guns from the citizenry makes no sense.

“I don’t want to see guns in the hands of a nutcase,” he said. “The only thing I’m going to shoot is paper. Why should I be penalized because there is some nutcase out there.”

Many at the show, which is being put on by Dave Greeley of Silver Sage Promotions LLC, were willing to talk. But they didn’t volunteer their names for the record. A vendor from Las Vegas said taciturn reactions aren’t due to shyness; it is in part over concern that a criminal might try to burglarize a residence to steal weaponry.