Gun show a hit every three months in Albany

ALBANY — Whether they liked to hunt, target shoot or needed personal protection, people could find a weapon at the Albany Gun & Knife Show/Sale Saturday.

The event continues today starting at 10 a.m. It probably will draw a steady stream of people as it did Saturday to browse table after table of guns, knives and other goods.

“We always have a good turnout in Albany,” said Elaine Steverson, one of the show’s promoters. “People here are always smiling and nice. And why not? It is a show.”

It is a show that sells rifles, which fit the needs of the Davis family. Rodney, his wife Deidra and their 18-month-old daughter drove 60 miles from Dooly County to find a rifle so that Deidra could join her husband and his friend in target shooting.

Deidra selected a .22-caliber Smith & Wesson semi-automatic assault rifle for her target shooting fun. While her background check was run on the purchase she talked about why she bought the gun.

“I go target shooting with my husband and his friends all the time,” Davis said. “I might as well shoot some targets too. And this gun is nice and light and easy to handle.”

The show allowed for John Westbrook to hopefully help weather the bad economy. Westbrook started his gun and collectibles business in September.

“I started the business when I became unemployed,” Westbrook said. “I took all my collectibles and my guns and now I travel all over Georgia selling. I would say that with the bad economy this is allowing me to hold my own.”

Not gun owners, Brandon Stewart and Trevor Johnson said they were curious to see the guns, knives and other collectibles at the show.

“I’m not interested in hunting, but he is,” said Stewart. “We just wanted to see what was here. There are a lot of different guns and knives. There are some really small guns I’ve never seen here. It is a cool show.”