Fun Show!

I went to the gun show yesterday. That probably seems like no big deal to most of the people who may see this, but I don't get out to the shows very often. I don't have a lot of cash to spend and I do have a lot of work to do around here, not to mention two teenagers and a toddler who are competing to see who can throw the most red-faced stomping fits per day.

But this time, a friend called me up and asked me to man the Sangamon County Rifle Association table, so I had a good excuse. It would have been a good time to take the two oldest boys off my wife's hands for awhile, but they decided to melt down and try to kill each other shortly before I left, so they were stuck stewing on their beds as I snuck out the door before My Bride could stop me. I suggested that she use our movie theater gift cards to take the boys to the movies and sit in a separate theater, but I gather their behavior never recovered.

That was all too bad for her, but I had a great time. The show was surprisingly well-attended for a Sunday afternoon with a wind chill below zero, and the people I talked to were all enthusiastic about gun rights. McDonald v. Chicago is creating a lot of excitement, and Illinois has primary battles for Governor and Senator going on right now. And I worked the table with Tom Shafer, a former city firefighter with a cable access show and a story for every occasion. Tom never disappoints; he'll make the time pass. Actually, I can admit now that Tom was the guy who used a Glock to stop a home invader back in November; his assailant pled guilty and has been dealt with by the law at this point, so everything is settled. Those of you who are familiar with Tom will realize how dumb it was to try to break in his door in the middle of the night.

Tom was the one who told me about the local news (WICS Newschannel 20) report on the gun show. Now, Channel 20 is the station that thought the most important thing to find out about the IGOLD event last March was whether the Capitol security had caught any of the 3-5,000 gun owners who marched "trying to sneak a gun into the Capitol." That was a step up from the year before, when 2500 marched and WICS declined to cover the event. We're used to this, of course, but we've always understood that we had no friends at Channel 20 and why.

But things are changing all over, and it looks like maybe the news room at TV 20 can feel a change in the wind. They put out this fluffy puff piece on this weekend's show, and I still don't know why. But I approve.