Uselton Arms!

[Smith]

I don't know how many of you listen to FM 99.7 (5am to 9am) here in Nashville, but the host Ralph Bristol is a great guy. He recently got his first handgun (although not new to firearms) and permit and unfortunately went through Use-less-ton for it. He sounds like he is not all too familiar with local gun stores, but I absolutely hate hearing Uselton get any free advertising. I dropped him an e-mail with my feelings on the matter as well links to the great gun shops of middle TN as well as TGO. If you would like to do the same, his e-mail is Ralph@997WTN.com.

[Guest mw.]

Not free, they said he was paying for it last Friday.

[Guest eyebedam]

I agree I like Ralphs show & it kills me to hear Usletons ads on there. If I'm not mistaken uselton gave him a Glock .40. It prob won't do much good for us to complain because cash is king and he's paying for the ads but I will drop him a line as well. I belive the Guns for America ads run later on in the day.

[Smith]

I don't mind the ads it was when heard some callers asking where he got his Glock foty and he was mentioning Uselton. It's not a huge deal to me, just annoying more than anything. Yeah GFA runs later and Guns and Leather are running a lot of TV spots. I think it is absolutely great that the local guys are moving enough inventory to be able to purchase so many spots. I hope it keeps up!

Edited January 6, 2009 by Smith

[Guest mw.]

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/news.php?viewStory=59815

http://www.tngunowners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7284&highlight=Uselton

[Smith]

Yeah I referenced those in my e-mail.

[Guest c_o_jones]

[Guest JLowe]

If he looks like a fool, and talks like a fool, well you know how it goes...........

I like the way he practices safe gun handling

[Guest Astra900]

I was gonna ask what everyone's beef with usetoln's was until I saw that picture. I'm not sure i even wanna go to the Toyota dealer for service anymore!

[MikeW]

Anyone here own a Uselton .45? They look pretty good but I woder if anyone can speak of the quality of the build. I have yet to see one in person.

[poak]

I was gonna ask what everyone's beef with usetoln's was until I saw that picture. I'm not sure i even wanna go to the Toyota dealer for service anymore!

Ha, on top of that, I believe I heard he supports legislation banning private sale of firearms. I guess so you and I would have to go see him so he could broker our sale and fatten his wallet...

[Guest Astra900]

Ha, on top of that, I believe I heard he supports legislation banning private sale of firearms. I guess so you and I would have to go see him so he could broker our sale and fatten his wallet...

Really? That would make him the vinegar to the left wings water. What a douche bag.

[poak]

Really? That would make him the vinegar to the left wings water. What a douche bag.

Yeah looks like mw. posted a link to a story about it, but I'll paste the story here:

Dean considers movement to clamp down on ‘gun show loophole’

By: By Nate Rau, nrau@nashvillecitypaper.com

Email Print

Rick Uselton, owner of Rivergate’s Uselton Arms Inc., supports closing the so-called gun show loophole that allows private party gun sales without background checks. Matthew Williams/The City Paper

A national movement among urban mayors against illegal guns and the so-called “gun show loophole†has made its way to Knoxville and Memphis. Nashville Mayor Karl Dean said he is exploring joining that cause.

Over 250 mayors from 40 states have signed on to the coalition, which seeks to cut down on the illegal purchasing and selling of guns. The first battlefront is eliminating the so-called “gun show loophole,†which allows individual gun owners to sell to other private citizens without conducting background checks.

As their latest television ad states, the movement has members who support presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain and the two Democratic presidential finalists Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton. Among them are mayors of Tennessee’s two other major municipalities — Shelby County Mayor A.C. Wharton and Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam.

Dean, mayor of a city that hosts regular guns shows and has for almost three decades, said he is considering the idea.

“I will look into the coalition and see if that’s something that can further the city’s public safety efforts,†Dean said.

Background checks not required

When an individual goes to a retail establishment with a federal firearms license — anywhere from the local gun shop to Wal-Mart — an instant background check is performed through a state agency like the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation or the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

The results of the background check typically come back within a few minutes and if the person passes, they are clear to purchase the gun.

However, the laws in many states including Tennessee, allow gun sales to take place between individuals without a background check. For instance, if an individual gun owner wants to sell his or her rifle, they may place an advertisement in the newspaper. When someone comes to purchase that gun, a background check isn’t required.

Such sales happen frequently at gun shows across the country, typically weekend events where licensed gun-dealers, firearms collectors and individuals can rent space to sell guns and other wares. Gun owners can also bring unloaded firearms into the shows and attempt to sell them both to dealers at tables or to other gun owners while walking the grounds of the show.

A licensed gun dealer is required to perform a background check with TBI on any deals it conducts at gun shows, but not for individual owners looking to sell their personal firearms. The organized gathering of gun owners and dealers combined with the owner-to-owner sales has caused proponents of stricter gun laws dub this the “gun show loophole†to background check laws.

“Not only is there no background check on the person purchasing the gun, there’s no record on the gun itself,†Rivergate Guns and Knives owner Rick Uselton said. “So the gun could be stolen and the person buying it back would never know.â€

Not a Second Amendment issue

With one gun shop in Madison, another on the way in Franklin and his own custom gun manufacturing business, Uselton says he’s proudly “150 percent behind the Second Amendment.â€

Uselton is especially fond of the phrasing at the end of the amendment, “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.â€

If the National Rifle Association was looking for a Nashville-area spokesman, Uselton would make perfect sense. Besides his gun shops and manufacturing business, he’s also a deputy sheriff in Sumner County.

But there’s one issue where Uselton breaks the party line and that’s on the topic of perceived lackadaisical laws surrounding sales at gun shows.

“In this era, the idea that there are places criminals can go and buy guns with no accountability, it doesn’t do my business any good and it doesn’t do law-abiding gun dealers any good,†Uselton said, referring to the loophole.

David Goodman is a Kentucky-based gun show promoter who has brought gun shows to Nashville for about 25 years, mainly to the Tennessee State Fairgrounds. Goodman said the movement to require background checks at gun shows is misguided and unnecessary.

“There is no such thing as the gun show loophole,†Goodman said. “The law applies equally no matter where you’re going to sell. Whether it’s the newspaper, your neighbor, the flea market, the same law applies to everybody.â€

Goodman, whose show comes to Nashville May 3-4, said efforts to clamp down on gun shows would effectively put him out of business.

“One of the things that’s been mentioned is having all individuals who want to sell or purchase guns to register 72 hours in advance of the show,†Goodman said. “There’s just no way I could do that, how am I supposed to know in advance who all is coming into a show?â€

Goodman also maintains that a gun show would be a foolish place to conduct an illegal gun sale. Although background checks are not required, selling guns to a felon is illegal.

“The place is crawling with ATF and TBI agents,†Goodman said. “At my shows, I’ve got a booth for the ATF, so why someone would do an illegal gun sale with the police right there, it doesn’t make sense. The whole movement is just a ploy.â€

An ATF spokesman acknowledged the agency does have a presence at gun shows, but disputed the notion they are “crawling with agents.â€

In the last few weeks, the mayors’ coalition has rolled out national television spots, which have begun running in Nashville.

One of the coalition’s initiatives is to give cities and local governments the right to have their own illegal gun policies, including eliminating the gun show loophole.

“From a public policy perspective, I absolutely believe quality of life issues are under our purview,†at-Large Councilwoman Megan Barry said. “We should be able to say what we want to happen in the confines of Davidson County. If that means restricting access to firearms, we should be within our rights to do it.â€

Not a widespread problem

Metro Police spokesman Don Aaron said the department has no reason to believe criminals purchasing guns at gun shows in Nashville is a widespread problem.

“Are criminals purchasing guns on the streets? Yes. Is home burglary gun-theft a problem? Yes,†Aaron said. “Are criminals purchasing guns illegally at gun shows? I don’t know. I don’t have any reason to believe it’s a widespread problem.â€

The weight of the issue isn’t lost on Dean, who said spending most of his career as a public defender made the issue of illegal guns a personal one.

“I know, having worked in the criminal justice system for much of my career, that an illegal firearm can turn a basketball game into a murder or a card game into a murder,†Dean said. “We need to do all that we can to keep guns out of the hands of juveniles and felons.â€

Aaron said the Crooks with Guns law passed last year, which gives harsher sentences and more difficult parole terms to illegal gun offenders, has led to 92 arrests already this year. Dean said initiatives like that are key in the fight against illegal guns.

“[Metro Police Chief Ronald] Serpas and [District Attorney Torry] Johnson were part of the successful lobbying effort for the Crooks with Guns legislation and I support their ongoing effort to enhance the law by making it applicable to first time convicted armed robbers,†Dean said. “And I look forward to further exploring the coalition of mayors against illegal guns.â€

[The Average Joe]

I went to Uselton's gun shop in Franklin just after Christmas.

Believe me, his buying adds on 99.7FM is in vain.

Turn off number 1...

His prices, shall we say, are astronomical.

I'm not cheap, but I do comparative shopping at gun shops in the middle Tennessee area and on line.

I know when something is WAY to expensive....and I'm not just talking firearms.

He had those cheap gun cleaning kits $20 higher than everybody else.

Turn off number 2 came when he started talking...

Diarrhea of the mouth...

Wear tall boots when you go, it fills up quick before you get a word in...

that's all I'll say.

[GLOCKMEISTER]

Anyone here own a Uselton .45? They look pretty good but I woder if anyone can speak of the quality of the build. I have yet to see one in person.

great gun, and my gunsmith builds them for him. If you want one we can get you one done for about 1/2 price. It just wont have Ricks name on it.

[Guest db99wj]

great gun, and my gunsmith builds them for him. If you want one we can get you one done for about 1/2 price. It just wont have Ricks name on it.

Sounds like it should be worth double the price....

[poak]

Turn off number 2 came when he started talking...

Diarrhea of the mouth...

Wear tall boots when you go, it fills up quick before you get a word in...

that's all I'll say.

Agreed. I went to his shop when I was 18 to look for an Rem870 HD, he and his staff were all very condescending, perhaps due to my age. Needless to say, I found somewhere else for my money to go that day!

[The Average Joe]

What a douche bag.

Ya stole my new line!

[Guest Astra900]

Actually, for the rest of the year, when I call "douche bag" I'll be thinking of you:up:

:D:D

[The Average Joe]

Agreed. I went to his shop when I was 18 to look for an Rem870 HD, he and his staff were all very condescending, perhaps due to my age. Needless to say, I found somewhere else for my money to go that day!

No, he talks down to old people, too.

At least he talked down to the old man that was there when I was.

I avoided conversation the whole time I was there.

[The Average Joe]

Actually, for the rest of the year, when I call "douche bag" I'll be thinking of you:up:

:D:D

Asta, you break my heart.

[Guest Astra900]

Agreed. I went to his shop when I was 18 to look for an Rem870 HD, he and his staff were all very condescending, perhaps due to my age. Needless to say, I found somewhere else for my money to go that day!

I thought useltons just opened up??? Your details say you're 24, at 18 that was 6 years ago. Where was he located before? Or did I put my glasses on upsidedown again?

[Guest Astra900]

Asta, you break my heart.

*sniff* *whimper* *sniff*

[poak]

I thought useltons just opened up??? Your details say you're 24, at 18 that was 6 years ago. Where was he located before? Or did I put my glasses on upsidedown again?

His Franklin shop is new, I'm talking about his shop in the Madison area.

Er, if I'm mistaken, and that wasn't his shop, I don't apologize, he's still a tool

[Guest Astra900]

A pretty blunt tool I gather:D

Thanks for the info:koolaid: I had been wondering.