wileecoyote

Clay at Yogey's Bunker in Lebanon, cheapest transfers in the state. Been using him for 8 years. Once you get to know him you will see he treats you like a friend, and he doesn't have overhead like the retail shops. Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk 2

We should not expect to find the lowest prices at gun shows. The dealers have extra overhead since they have to travel, unpack, setup, sit there all weekend, tear down, pack, and drive back home. Plus they pay several fees to get table space, electric hook ups, food, drink, etc. So they are inflating their prices to cover these extra costs, thus their prices are typically higher than you could otherwise get elsewhere. The same is true of gun stores, which have extra overhead to pay for rent, utilities, insurance, employees, permits, local taxes, etc. This is why I prefer to purchase guns from online auctions or internet / catalog wholesalers. They can deal in high volume with lower operating costs so their prices are generally much better. The main reason I still like go to gun stores or gun shows is to browse, handle new guns, and maybe find something unique. I don't mind paying a little extra for the convenience, but the gun show prices are already inflated so the extra parking and entry fees just push it over the top. I would much rather buy the occasional accessory or hard to find item from a local gun store and let the money go to them vs. a gun show promoter or city government. I hope Bill Goodman will consider lowering or removing the entry fee to offset the new parking cost, or moving to a new location which would not require a parking or entry fee. The Nashville show is pretty small so they don't need all the space at the fairgrounds anyway. He makes a good bit of money renting the space to dealers so he shouldn't need to charge an entry fee, or could at least cut the entry fee to $3 or less. If not then he won't be seeing me at the show in the future.

The trouble when you live in or near a residential area is identifying the cats. Hard to tell house pets from abandoned house pets from sick domestic animals from true feral animals. The risk of dispatching animals permanently in a residential area is that they might be pets, and you could be fined or sued for doing it. Animal control can scan the animals for microchips and return them to their owners, or put them up for adoption for at least a few days before legally disposing of them. Doesn't cost you anything and takes the liability off you, and saves your ammo for other target practice. I once had a similar problem with cats digging out our flower beds, walking on our cars, or fighting our small dog. Trouble is I had no way to know who owned the cats, and it was impossible to follow them around until they went home. So I got a live trap and caught a few of the worst offenders. They had no tags or collars but looked reasonably healthy and were somewhat clean so I assumed they were house pets. I stopped by the post office and picked up a few of those small clear plastic address label pouches which have adhesive on the back. Cut them down just large enough to hold a small note. Inserted a note to the cat owner, instructing them to keep their cats indoors from now on or they would be impounded by animal control, then if they showed up again they would disappear. It was easy and painless to attach the note to the cat, and could be removed without harming the cat although I am sure the owner got a few scratches in the process. Or in some cases I would apply a few liberal drops of skunk scent and release the cat. Not one of those cats ever showed up again so the notes and scented drops were apparently effective. For the cats which appeared to be hurt, diseased, or possibly feral I just trapped them and had animal control pick them up at their leisure. My grandfather lived in the wilderness, however, with no residential areas around for many miles. When cats showed up around his cabin they were always feral. He ignored them until they killed some of the wild birds and rabbits which he had trained to eat from his hands. That was when he taught me how to use a .410 and eventually a 20 gauge. Never had a problem with those wild cats after that.

I rarely go to gun shows because the entrance fee alone is usually not worth it. Most dealers are making extra profit to cover their increased expenses of selling there, and many dealers have inflated prices to start with. Add on the tax and background check fees, plus cost of gas and time to get there, on top of their higher prices and you can always do better on the private market, and sometimes even better at your local stores. So about the only reason to go is the chance to browse and look for something unique. That was occasionally worth the trip, time, gas, and the entrance fee but now with the parking fee it is just too much and I won't be going at all in the future. Gun shows should be free to begin with, since you are the consumer spending money. We shouldn't have to pay an entrance fee for the privilege. Goodman and other promoters make enough money from the dealers as it is. He will have to drop his fee to cover parking, or move to another location with free parking.

I don't know what this means. I had tried to reach David about sponsoring it with some small door prizes or something, but never heard back, I suspect because he was busy working on the site overhaul.I am willing to do all the planning again but want to see a higher level of commitment, so that we don't get so many people signing up and promising to bring stuff, then blowing it off, most without even sending a note. Someone suggested having it catered and charging the fee per person when they sign up, so that nobody gets stuck bringing a lot more than their share.

No worries. The owner gave us a break on the rental fee so we actually had enough to give her a small tip, which I thought would increase the chances of having it open to us again later. The main impact of the missing people was all the extra food, snack, and supply costs, but I split that with a few others so it wasn't too bad. And the gun raffle prize would have been much higher if all had shown up, but we still managed a nice prize anyway. I was glad to do it and enjoyed meeting the group. Like I said at the start... lot of good folks out there, as gun owners usually are.

No problems whatsoever. An even mix of people from TGO, GOC, and some from other places. We held it at an indoor banquet room next to a park which was ideal: AC, modern kitchen and restrooms, lots of tables and chairs, plenty of parking, outdoor grilling area, and no firearm restrictions. I only recall seeing 1-2 people carrying and we didn't have to worry about spectators since we were indoors. We had several tables full of guns for sale, most from a local dealer and a few from other people. If we did it again I would suggest this same location which can handle up to 150 people, however I am reluctant to organize another event because it takes weeks of planning and lots of time to prepare and support it. I don't mind doing all that for a large group but was disappointed to see that 37 people canceled at the last minute or failed to show up without even sending a note, even though they had previously confirmed and agreed to provide food or drinks. This put a heavier burden on the others to bring more supplies, but in the end we still had a great group of people, tons of food, and everyone took home several door prizes so those who came had a blast.

31 people showed up and we had a blast! We had enough food to feed an army, literally. Burgers, dogs, sausages, chicken, and some of the best BBQ you ever tasted. Coleslaw, potato salad, mac'n'cheese, baked beans, potato wedges. Chips, pretzels, crackers, cookies, cakes, cobblers. Soda, water, iced tea. And all the supplies to cook it up, chill it, serve it, clean up, and take the extra food to friends, neighbors, and a medical care center. We also gave away about 60 nice door prizes so everyone took home at least 2 free gifts including a mini vault, ammo, holster, bipods, free shooting range passes, DVD movies, books, kids games, candy, pistol pouches, backpack, computer equipment, car safety kits, and much, much more. Special thanks to our sponsors for provding these great prizes: - Yogey's Bunker, Lebanon (Claysher on GOC) - The Gun Room, Lebanon (Roger and Stan) - Lebanon Gun Shop (David) ... and a few little things from WileECoyote :-) Several guns were sold and the lucky winners of the gun raffle were Bryan and Pam from Portland, TN. All in all this was an outstanding event. Took a lot of planning and hard work by all to make it happen but it was worth it to meet such super people. Everyone asked to do it again down the road, so we just might do that after we all recover... :-) Thanks to all those who showed up and contributed food or supplies to make this work. Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.

We have 56 total guests signed up and over half of them have confirmed twice. Many are bringing lots of good food and deserts, and a few local dealers recently donated some nice door prizes as well. This is going to be a very fun event. Hope that a few others can make it to fill up the place.

Ok gang, the picnic is definitely happening! We have rented a nice modern indoor facility with an outdoor area behind it. We have a bunch of people bringing lots of good food, snacks, desserts, and drinks, we are holding a gun raffle, and there will be free door prizes as well, plus the sale-trade-display area. The picnic is by invitation only due to space and food planning limits, so if you want to join us then please signup now via the folliowing link: Gun Owners Picnic Sign-up Survey We already have 57 guests registered, so only have room for 18 more at this time. Note - you must provide your email address when signing up, so that we can send you the location and other details via email. Hope to see you there.

We had 20 people sign up to bring 49 total guests, which is enough for us to book a park pavillion for the picnic. We should have a facility booked within the next few days and then I will send out the details via email to all those who have signed up. I will also leave the signup survey open in case anyone else wants to join late but we will have to cut it off as soon as we hit the capacity limit for the pavillion. It is a shame we didn't get enough people to rent the fairgrounds location because we could have left the event open to the public, but we needed at least 50 people to sign up to cover the cost of the fairgrounds so we were pretty far off from that mark. Still, our total of 49 guests should make a nice group with lots of good food and gun-friendly chat to make it fun for everyone. I am also working on some sponsors to donate door prizes and it looks like most people plan to participate in the gun raffle, sell-trade area, and shooting range so this should be a pretty nice event. Look for more details via email soon if you are already signed up. If you want to sign up late then better hurry, as we are already close to the cutoff mark.

Update as of Friday night 6/24: We have 17 confirmed people signed up to bring 39 total guests. This is definitely heading in the right direction now so we only need a few more people to jump in and make it happen. Tomorrow is the last day to sign up so jump in now if you want to participate, and if you already signed up then make sure to tell your family and friends so they can sign up as well. Should be really fun. Gun Owners Picnic Sign-up Survey

Update as of Wed night 6/22: We now have 12 confirmed people signed up to bring a total of 27 guests. This is heading in the right direction but still not enough to hold a decent picnic. It would be enough if everyone showed up as planned, but the problem is that some people might cancel or not show up at all and then we would be stuck without enough food and supplies for the people that remained. So if you want this picnic to happen then sign up now. I will leave the survey open until Saturday night 6/25. Gun Owners Picnic Sign-up Survey

True, no one date or time will be best for everyone. But the survey results showed 21 people could make it in Lebanon on 7/9 and would bring 68 total guests. That was the best possible date and time combination which is why we picked it, and many people indicated they would drive to Lebanon from Nashville or Cookeville, so I was hoping to see at least 30 confirmed people with 50 total guests minimum. We are about 1/3 of the way there already... I am just wondering what happened to the other 2/3...

We really need more people to sign up this week. We do have a good start with 8 confirmed people representing 20 total guests, but we need at least 30 confirmed people representing 50 or more guests before I am going to shell out the cash to book a facility and continue with all the detailed planning steps. There was a huge response to the original survey with nearly 80 people and 250 guests interested in coming, so now is the time to speak up if you want this to happen. It should be a really nice event with free food, snacks, drinks, and a private sale-trade-show/tell area. We also have some people donating door prizes to be given away. And I am willing to bring my Big Green Egg smoker/grill for cooking all the food. We just need more folks to make it doable. If you are holding out for some reason then please speak up to let us know why. Link to sign up is here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/L7NTZLH

I called them to check and they are going to call me back to confirm, but I know they hold gunshows there and I think each event makes their own decision on posting or not. Will confirm once I hear back.

Picnic Update: I did some research on possible locations in the Lebanon area based on suggestions from various people. As you can see from the table below, the best overall location is the Wilson County Fairgrounds. It is very conveniently located just off I-40 Exit #239 and it is less than 1 mile from a gun store which has a very nice indoor range. I spoke with the owner of that store and he has offered us several free range passes to use as prizes during our picnic. The fairgrounds also has ample parking and we can rent a park pavilion or a large indoor building, with the building being nice since it would be air conditioned and we could still get together even if it rains. The only downside to the fairgrounds is the higher cost, which should not be a problem if we can get at least 40 total guests that are willing to chip in $4 each to cover the rental costs. If we don't get enough guests to use the fairgrounds then the Shady Acres Campground looks like our next best option. They only have a medium pavilion but at least it provides shade and has plenty of picnic tables. It is located just 1 mile south of I-40 Exit #238 so still pretty close to the gun store with indoor range, and also close to the Lebanon Outlet shops for anyone with family that would like to do a little shopping before or after the event. We wouldn't have as much space for a show-and-trade area but we could probably still display some things on the picnic tables as long as we keep it safe and discreet. All the other options seem to be less than ideal for various reasons, but if you have any better suggestions then feel free to speak up or send me a PM. Now the most important thing: we need more people to sign-up for the picnic NOW. We need at least 30 confirmed people to sign-up or it won't be worth the hassle of all the planning. We have 6 people confirmed so far with 14 total guests which is a great start but we need more to sign-up soon or we won't be able to reserve the picnic facility. Here is the link: Gun Owners Picnic Sign-up Survey

Hard to say until more people sign-up, but based on the initial survey I would estimate between 40-100 people total, maybe many more depending on how fast the word gets out. So the actual space for the picnic shouldn't require too much room, maybe half an acre or so if everyone wants to spread out, but parking could be an issue. I am looking at one place which has ample parking, some grassy areas, and a gun range close to I-40 Exit 239 but I can't confirm until I talk to the owner. If this falls through then a private property may be best provided it is easily accessible and won't cause any problems.

I created a new thread for people to sign-up to the picnic. This thread will be closed. Please visit the new thread to sign-up and follow further developments. http://www.tngunowners.com/forums/events-gatherings/58612-gun-owners-picnic-sign-up-here.html

Thanks to all those who participated in the original picnic survey which indicated that 76 people and 225 guests are interested in a Gun Owners picnic. Click here to view a summary of those survey results if you are interested. Your votes have decided that our picnic will be held in the Lebanon, TN area on Saturday 7/9 from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Please take this new sign-up survey if you plan to attend, so that we can determine how much food and supplies will be needed, and which activities to plan for: Gun Owners Picnic Sign-up Survey The sign-up survey will remain open until midnight on Saturday 7/2 but respond early if you want to influence the initial planning. Feel free to post any questions or suggestions here or in the survey. I will update this thread and send out periodic email alerts as things develop. First step is to confirm the actual location, which we hope to finalize this week. Drop me a note if you know of any good locations in the Lebanon area which would have space to host the picnic and support legal concealed carry. I am working on one promising lead now but am open to all ideas.

Sorry about your luck, but majority rules! I know just how hard that is, as I teach classes a few times each year and the main reason I don't do it more often is that they are a real pain to schedule, with everyone having so many other things to do with work, family, kids, sports, hobbies, etc. Why not bring the entire class to the picnic, then teach the class afterwards?

The picnic survey has been closed with 76 total responses representing 225 picnic guests, an awesome response! A summary of the survey results is available here if you are interested. The most popular option was Lebanon on Saturday 7/9 so we will plan around that location and date. I will create a new thread soon with a new survey so that people can sign-up and elect to bring specific things. Look for the new thread and more details shortly.

Yeah, it is tough to find a spot that is good for everyone since members are spread all over TN. But then again, I think many of us have driven a few hours for a great deal or unique piece, so it might not be so bad. You will definitely get some good food and fun out of the deal, and you might even be able to make a few good deals on gear to make it worth the trip. Hope it works out for most to make it.

Today is the last day for the survey. Vote now while you still can. We have 63 responses so far representing nearly 200 guests, so it looks certain that we will have a picnic. I am already working on a few locations based on preliminary results, but your vote could help sway the outcome so please respond now if interested. Remember the survey is short and anonymous. It closes at midnight tonight. [survey is now closed]

We have just exceeded the 50-response goal for the survey and more responses are still coming in. All of the responses are positive and in favor of the picnic so it looks like we will definitely have an event. Lebanon on 7/9 is still the most popular choice but we will continue taking votes until Sunday night. If you haven't already responded then now is your last chance. I will post final survey results here after the survey closes, then we can focus on detailed planning. [survey is now closed]