Cow Palace gun show draws a crowd in wake of Obama’s executive actions

DALY CITY — A long line of gun fanciers waiting to buy tickets snaked across the Cow Palace parking lot early Saturday morning despite a cold drizzle, as the Crossroads of the West gun show kicked off a two-day run at the famed exhibition hall.

Judging by the size of the morning crowd, show owner Bob Templeton predicted total weekend attendance of about 7,000 — double the usual 3,500 at the show he’s been holding at the Cow Palace for three decades.

“There are a lot of first-time buyers,” said Templeton, a Utah resident. “They’re here for two reasons — the safety of their family and President Obama’s call for more gun control” earlier in the week.

The sprawling exhibit hall was packed with vendors selling everything from ear plugs and T-shirts to kits that allow you to make your own AR-15 semi-automatics.

An unscientific sampling of attendees failed to find anyone opposed to the background checks at gun shows proposed by the president — such checks are already California law — but many said they were suspicious that he is opposed to all gun ownership, despite his insistence that he’s not.

“Obama can’t be trusted,” said Greg Simkins of Oakley, who was thinking about buying one of the AR-15 kits, made by United Armory. “He’ll push his agenda no matter what.”

Some said they keep their gun ownership to themselves, especially in the liberal Bay Area.

“I don’t tell my neighbors,” said Rich from Oakland, who declined to give his last name.

“It feels like I’m part of a minority,” said Joe, who was also reluctant to say where he lives.

A $13 ticket gained entrance to the expo, where shoppers looked for deals on ammunition and browsed tables of historical weapons.

The AR-15 kit — essentially the barrel of the popular line of semi-automatic rifles — is not regulated because it’s sold without the receiver, a vital part. It can be purchased separately, but it must be milled by the buyer to make it workable.

Bob Zider, of Portola Valley, said he doesn’t own a gun but has been trying to convince his wife that guns can be safely owned. “I didn’t find anything here that would make me comfortable,” he said.

Zider left with some T-shirts — but no guns.

David Leeds, a historic-firearms dealer from San Francisco, said he fears that modest regulation only begets more.

“It’s like abortion in Texas,” he said, standing beside his tables full of vintage guns. “I think abortion should be legal. In Texas they regulated it out of existence. You got a slippery slope.”

The crowd was mostly male, but there were some couples.

“We’re mostly here for ammo,” said Cory Robbins, of Pacifica.

Robbins said stores have sold out of ammunition. The run on ammo appears to have followed both the San Bernardino mass shooting on Dec. 2 and Obama’s executive actions this past week.

“There’s nothing on the shelves, and the prices are better here,” he said. “You can haggle sometimes, and there’s always a part for a gun, maybe a kit.”

Robbins’ wife, Catherine, said shooting is a family affair. She said her son, now a teenager, has been shooting since he was 3 years old. “You teach them at a young age how to clean and store it — and start them with little nerf guns.”

But, she said, some of her friends disapprove.

“It is hard sometimes,” she said. “I have a lot of friends who don’t like guns.”

Contact Pete Carey at 408-920-5419. Follow him at Twitter.com/petecarey.