Kitchen knives to antique rifles / Fairgrounds show attracts thousands
Eager to see the guns and knives vendors were selling at the Monroe Gun & Knife Show, people lined up outside the First Merchants Bank Expo Center a half hour before doors opened.
Sport Shows Promotions, a Michigan business based in Mason, has been hosting the weekend event at the Monroe County Fairgrounds for nearly two decades.
Tables filled the center and vendors offered products and services including firearms, gun cabinets and cases to knives, ammunition, gas masks, military supplies, and wild game jerky. Ninety percent of items sold by vendors must be gun- or knife-related.
Customers were advised that all federal, state, and local firearm ordinances and laws must be obeyed and no one under the age of 18 would be admitted without a responsible adult.
“For Monroe, people attending the show can be as low as 1,500 for the weekend or up to 5,000 in attendance,” said Tracie Dennis, owner of Sport Shows Promotions. “Due to COVID, we could not do shows after March 2020. When we were allowed to open in August 2021 we had hours and hours of people in line waiting to get in. We probably had 4,000 people attending the show the first day.”
While her boyfriend looked at firearms, Cassi Winters of Ypsilanti shopped for an out-the-front knife, a gift to give him for Valentine’s Day. Monroe resident William Muncy and his three-year-old son, Lincoln, visited the show soon after it opened.
“I’m looking for a new gun and a new pocketknife. I lost my pocketknife,” Muncy said. “This is my first time attending a show in Monroe and I thought it would be a good way to spend some time with my son, just walking around and looking at things.”
Robert Koerner of Koerner Firearm Sales has been an exhibitor at the show since 1999 and brought 250 guns to sell.
“We try to carry as many different firearms as we can because it gives us a better opportunity to make sales,” Koerner said. “Right now, the concealed carry handguns tend to be the most popular.”
Gun enthusiasts Kedrick Johnson and Joseph Schafer traveled from Wayne County to attend the show and possibly add to their gun collections. Alex Rowe said he visited the show to buy ammunition and wild game jerky. Rowe, an Ann Arbor resident, is a hunter and attends several gun shows throughout the year.
“I appreciate the engineering of firearms,” he said. “I get my love of weaponry from my father. He has a wide range of firearms in his collection.”
Aspen Sims, senior field sales manager for Cutco, offered a selection of outdoor cutlery, kitchen knives and accessories.
“This is my first time doing a show in Monroe but I really like the area. I had success at the Novi show and, surprisingly, the kitchen products do very well,” she said.
Howard Keller of Westland, a vendor for 19 years, had an extensive corner booth with leather belts and holsters for sale.
“We make holsters and our own belts. We have a manufacturing facility in Farmington Hills called Farmington Hills Leather,” he said. “Along with belts and holsters, we make concealed carry belly bands and we do special projects.”
Not everyone in attendance was looking to buy; some eventgoers brought items to sell. Ohio resident Steve Sauder walked the aisles carrying a Swiss 1911 rifle with a bayonet and ammunition to sell for $1,100.
Sauder said he has been successful selling guns at other shows but this was his first time attending the show in Monroe.
Each year, Sport Shows Promotions hosts 47 gun and knife shows throughout Michigan. The next show for Monroe is slated for August 20 and 21. Admission is $8, and active military and seniors pay $7.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Kitchen knives to antique rifles / Fairgrounds show attracts thousands
