Jacksonville, Fla. — An ersatz Moroccan temple might at first glance seem a peculiar stage on which to set an all-American gun show. And yet, upon closer inspection, it proves rather apt. No tale of Arabia is complete without the appearance of a bazaar or a souk, and, give or take, that is precisely what this was. Here, at the Morocco Shrine Auditorium, the hobbyists and the collectors have convened to parade their wares. “Welcome to the gun show,” reads the sign. You ain’t in Manhattan anymore.
In the progressive imagination, American gun shows are uniquely perfidious affairs — nothing more or less than illicit, loophole-ridden rendezvous points at which men with undesirable political opinions enable terrorists and criminals to do damage to the virtuous. In the press and beyond, it is hard to miss the lip-curling sneer that typically accompanies their contemplation. If there is one tradition in the United States that sums up the country’s unique gun culture it is these shows; necessarily, those who dislike that culture will abhor its pageantry.
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