Gun show good place for passionate talk

I’m not much of a talker. But I am an eager listener, and I love to hear passionate people talk about what they care about.

You won’t find a group more passionate and interesting than those at a gun show.

Last weekend was the second time I’ve had the pleasure of attending the gun show in Clovis, and while my partner ran around like a little kid in a toy store insisting we need more guns (we don’t), I found my fun in meeting people and listening to their stories.

Pro tip: You don’t have to initiate the conversation, simply linger over a particular table for more than 30 seconds and the conversation will come to you. If you see something interesting, ask about it. Nine times out of 10 you will be glad you asked.

On Sunday I found a table covered in beautiful knives with intricate, precise patterns on the blade. The obsessive reverse-engineer in me started trying to figure out how they were made. Is this the work of a CNC machine? Are these hand engraved? What kind of steel is this? Before I even had to ask, the vendor sensed my curiosity.

There is no way I could have guessed how he actually formed the knives. He said he took ordinary farrier rasps — large, ugly, brown files — and ground them down, shaped them and spent hours hand polishing them to a mirror finish.

As I stood and listened, wowed by the transformation, the conversation turned toward the man’s ill health. In spite of a bleak diagnosis by his doctors, he still follows his passion and makes the most beautiful knives anyone would be proud to own.

I even got some tips on eating frog legs. I said it would take an end-of-days type scenario for me to kill and eat a frog, but if it comes up I’m well prepared. I’m sorry froggies.

The people you meet at the gun show love to talk about guns. But the conversations are much more than simple nomenclature, each piece brings up a story that weaves history, personal recollections and the joy of finding common ground with a stranger.

I would say we came out ahead. We left with a new knife, a hand-poured candle that smells like saddle leather, and more memories of our time in Clovis.

It was a good day.

Aubry Buzek is a reporter for the Clovis News Journal. Contact her at [email protected]