Your Guns Have a Story To Tell

Many of our customers are familiar with my mother, Donna. She’s retired now, but still helps out at the shop on a regular basis and loves talking with our clients. She also loves to write. Just today, one of her pro-gun letters was published in the Tampa Tribune (see link). She wrote the following message for our beloved customers. We hope you enjoy it, this Friday morning.
-- Evan



Howling winds and snowy roads covered with black ice provide a good opportunity to stay indoors, crank up the stereo and sit by the fire with a healthful glass of red wine.

Sitting there you may think of your beloved family, how much you love each one, how you would do anything for them, with just a moment’s notice.

Now, I want you to think about all the firearms you have at home, safely tucked away. You could tell a story about each and every one, where you got it, how much you paid for it, what it is worth, why you thought it was such a good idea to acquire it. No one could tell the story of your collection like you could.

I can still remember the very first wheel gun I bought, who was with me, the nice man who sold, now gone to his reward. He knew it would fit my hand, and I could take it apart with ease. It is like a favorite old pair of loafers to me.

Now is the time to tell the story of your collection. Get a spiral notebook, or a marble tablet with a sturdy cardboard cover for two dollars at your local office supply. Leave a few blank pages at the beginning. Give every weapon its own page. Group them by type: pistol, revolver, rifle, shotgun, silencer.

Write down the make and model, your serial number, caliber, anything special about it, how much you paid, paste in the receipt if you have it. Write a little blurb about the pearl grips, or the time you took it to the range and the thing malfunctioned, or that the trigger is light, or how you dented the walnut stock. Describe your ammo, its caliber, quantity, and cost.

Keep this document in your safe.

I love our customers. They come in with such interesting stories and differing backgrounds. Common among all of them, is their love of firearms as sport, collection, or investment. They know so much. They have so many stories.

But their families might be hard pressed to describe any gun in their collection, or determine its value for investment or resale. Your people will thank you later for having taken the time to do a proper inventory, believe me.

-- Donna Marie Kostreva