Thread: Gun shows in Washington?

Originally Posted by mjbskwim

Sorry what?

IN MY EXPERIENCE IN THE LAST 20+ YEARS I have seen the Puyallup show go from a great place to buy guns,to a great place to look at curio.Say what you will and show a couple of great deals.For the most part,again in my experience of going to quite a few gun shows,all over the west side,it isn't the best place to buy OR sell a gun.

This has been MY experience,some results will vary.



There are a few deals around.Every once in a while you get a great bargain.
I love gun shows.I go to all I have time to go to.But I won't spend the time to travel to Puyallup to actually buy something,unless I intend to hit Sportco too.

Too many guys out there that start with great prices to bother "haggling" for a used gun at a new price.

just sayin' (been doing the gun shows for quite a while bro.)

Well, "Bro" Like I had stated "opinions on that varies". With over 1000 tables and some 5000 plus people a show attending it has something going for it.

I've only been to the WAC shows, I have no problem shelling out the $35 for the membership as long as I get to 2-3 shows a year. I've found some great deals and have missed out on a few too. I always haggle the price, specially if it's getting late in the day on Sunday. Best deals are found when a seller hasn't had a great weekend and needs to sell something, or first thing Saturday morning but it's hard to haggle at the start of the day. Don't forget to ask about trades, I had a Colt trooper I couldn't sell for what I wanted and I found a guy who took it in trade for what I was asking and I got what I wanted for only another $200.

Originally Posted by Redcap

You have to be a WAC member to buy a firearm, and vendors (not private sellers) will charge sales tax.

And there is the problem with WAC...

you don't want to follow the law? Any legal business in WA is required to charge sales tax on items sold. If you buy from a private seller you're supposed to pay the use tax on the purchase at the local DOR office. Also, any FFL doing a transfer from out of state is required to charge the use tax on the purchase price, the shipping AND the transfer fee. If they aren't then they will have to pay it out of their funds when audited.
However, there are dealers out there the say they didn't sell the gun so they don't have to collect the tax, that cost Mike at Brightwater a buch of $$ when the DOR audited him,