Ask Don Fern, a lifelong NRA member and a resident of Santa Maria for the past 40 years, for a civics lesson, and he'll tell you that without the second amendment, "there wouldn't be any of the others."

Fern and fellow National Rifle Association members were but one of the many tables that filled the inside of the Santa Maria Fairpark on Sunday. This weekend's exhibition brought in merchants from all over California, peddling wares as exotic as authentic World War I German rifles and throwing knives sold in packages of three, six and 10. Though these shows once saw packed houses, according to promoter Anda Padgett, restrictive legislation and the decline of gun culture in California have seen numbers at shows such as these on the wane.

"It doesn't draw like it used to," said Padgett, who added that ticket sales this weekend had been "awful."

According to Padgett, Saturday's attendance was a paltry 447, far short of the 1,500-2,000 range she'd predicted just days before. As of noon Sunday, only 128 people had paid the $8 admission to see what treasures they might procure.

Padgett and her husband have been running gun shows in Central California for the past 20 years. While one of the couple's first shows was in Santa Maria, this weekend's middling ticket sales may make this event the last.

"I don't know about next year," said Padgett, "since all the laws changed, it messed things up."

Richard C. of Fresno, who declined to give his last name, was at the show selling his private collection.

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"Being disabled, I can't really hunt as much as I used to," he said.

Throughout his life, Richard C. has made a hobby of restoring antique weapons. Recently he completed the restoration of a World War II-era German K98, with parts dating back to 1945. Though he hasn't participated in many gun shows, Richard C. still believes strongly in the constitutional right to bear arms.

"The second amendment was the first homeland security," he said.

Like Richard C., Mark of Oceano also refused to give his last name. "Are you kidding? This is modern America. It's worse than the Soviet Union," he said.

Unlike most of the other vendors, Mark dealt primarily in military memorabilia.

"I've been doing this for 40 years," he said, "I used to have a collection big enough to fill half this building."

Mark began collecting in the 1950s, when he pieced together a WWII U.S. Marine Corps uniform from items he found in junk sales. Standing behind him at his table Sunday was a mannequin clad in an authentic WWII-era Japanese bomber pilot uniform. Like many of the other gun show veterans, Mark was upset at what he saw as a piece of American culture being taken away.

"These were shows that people enjoyed and they stole it from them," he said.

"These shows are healthy for people," he said, "It gives them enjoyment. Anyone who spends a day at one of these things will realize it's not what the bureaucracy will have them think."

As for Fern, he and his fellow NRA members were raffling off a chance to win an engraved M-1 rifle, as well as several other weapons. While greeting visitors as soon as they entered the fairpark, Fern said that so far the day was treating him well.

"I love the NRA and I love the constitution," said Fern.

A lifelong member, Fern said, "the NRA is more relevant today than when I joined it."

"There are lots of enemies within this country, and I mean born American citizens, who'd love to take our sovereignty and hand it over," he said.

Stan Oklobdzija can be reached at 739-2159 or at soklobdzija@santamariatimes.com.

June 27, 2005