A Bizarre, but True Story

[Jolly Blue Giant]

This is a story of my family's business for several decades

It starts with my 13 yr old younger brother who started selling and trading guns at school (yup, back in the 60's, guns in school were common, and we even had a rifle range in the school and a rifle club...those days are long gone). By the time he was 15, he had all kinds of shotguns and rifles that he got from trading with other kids. At the same time, my father knew one of the executives at Ithaca Gun Company and they offered to give my brother a hundred guns on consignment. So my father turned our old "milk house" into a temporary gun shop with bars on the windows and a security door. It actually looked like a real gun shop

Back at school, dozens of kids were getting off the bus carrying their long guns to school and heading for classes. So many kids brought their guns to school that the Principal in the morning message over the loudspeaker advised, "If you bring your guns to school, make sure they are unloaded and keep them in your locker. Do your trading between classes". Within a few months, my brother had amassed about 20,000 dollars. He talked my father into tearing down the barn and extending the milk house over the width of the old barn and he would pay for it







Meanwhile, my father had gotten a federal firearms license in order to make it a legitamate and legal business, but we started getting pressure (more like harassment) from the ATF who said, "we cannot allow a 15 year old kid sell guns" (as he was selling several guns a day and signing the application for each sale). So my brother would sell a gun, then have my mother sign the paperwork as my father had a full time job in Syracuse at the time. The business grew and we had hundreds of long guns and hand guns in the shop (which was about 1,500 sq. ft.) as well as archery equipment, thousands of boxes of ammo, reloading equipment, etc.

We had grown to becoming a major seller in Upstate New York. Our only real competition came from a gun shop in Binghamton (Dick's Guns) who would run Sunday flyer deals and cut prices. So we would undersell him, and then when we had deals, he would undersell us. This went on for several years. Buyers would go back and forth between us to work the best deal they could

Then...one day, we read in the Binghamton paper that Dick was going to start selling clothing, sneakers, golf clubs, ball gloves, etc. We cheered...we high fived...we celebrated and said, "WE WON!!!"

Well, Dick changed the name of his shop to "Dick's Sporting Goods" which is now a multi-billion dollar business with over 750 stores across America and Canada and are dabbling in other countries. Dick passed away a few years ago, but when he sold out his ownership, he became rich beyond his wildest dreams. He was a good guy and a respected competitor. But we "didn't win"...he did

After that, my brother continued to get us in trouble with the ATF. First, he accidentally fired a .38 Colt in the house that ended up shooting me in the leg. They wanted to know why a kid was carrying a handgun in the first place. They let it slide. Then later, he loaned the high school drama club a handgun for a play that was loaded with blanks. As most know, when shooting blanks from a real gun, there is a cardboard plug instead of a bullet. Anyway, to make a long story short, the first time they used it with blanks was during a play, and it was pointed at a girl on a couch and the plug hit her leg causing it to bleed. She panicked, the play was closed, and the ambulance took her away. ATF was furious and threatened to close us down for good, but they didn't

A couple of years later, my brother sold a can of FFF Black Powder to some kids on bicycles who had a note from their father. My brother (who only cared about money) sold it to them, knowing it was illegal. The next day, we read an article in the paper and said, "oh no...we're done". The story was about two kids who drilled a hole in a can of black powder and put a fuse in it. They made a bomb out of it and blew a door off a car in front of the police department. The article went on to say, "authorities are looking into the ease at which the children acquired the black powder". Long story short - the ATF shut us down

I was going to college at the time and applied for an FFL and got it. My brother meanwhile, decided he needed to get out of the gun business and went to college to become a pastor. So my Dad and I ran the business for a while before I went my own way and my father ran the business by himself. He was also an excellent gunsmith and always had 15–20 guns in queue that needed fixing. He also had built blueing tanks and reblueing guns had become big business for him

Fifteen years later, a group of crazy survivalists who lived in the woods of Pennsylvania, broke into the shop by cutting through the back wall, avoiding the security doors that could not be opened. They brought tools to cut through wood, insulation, and sheet rock and stole every single gun, all the ammo, reloading equipment, etc., essentially putting the shop out of business for good

Several of the thieves were caught, and over the years, a gun or two comes back...even 30 years later. But the handguns have the serial numbers ground off and we turn them over to the police. My parents turned the gunshop/barn into a Bed and Breakfast and ran that successfully for the next 25 years. The end

[T200]

    

What an impressive family history, Ric!!

[Ed Vette]

Your brother was quite the entrepreneur. Did he become a Paster? That's quite a change in career path.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

Your brother was quite the entrepreneur. Did he become a Pastor? That's quite a change in career path.

He was a "child entrepreneur" who was fascinated with making money, but that changed over time. Yes he did become a pastor, but eventually left the pastorate and is now a Spanish teacher. He's plenty old enough to retire, but he likes the job and Spanish teachers are a big need

[Ed Vette]

He was a "child entrepreneur" who was fascinated with making money, but that changed over time. Yes he did become a pastor, but eventually left the pastorate and is now a Spanish teacher. He's plenty old enough to retire, but he likes the job and Spanish teachers are a big need

Were there ever any accidents at the school with kids bringing their guns and ammo to school?

[Jolly Blue Giant]

Were there ever any accidents at the school with kids bringing their guns and ammo to school?

Nope, only that one time when my brother loaned the drama club a handgun with blanks, and that was more surprise and curiosity than anything else. A band-aid and some Neosporin fixed her leg and a week later there wasn't even a mark left...basically a scratch and powder burn. Although the school did make a new rule that real guns would no longer be used in stage plays

[Giant Obsession]

WOW, what a great story.

Has to be true because no way you can make that up.

Heck, Hollywood could not match it.

Rod Serling would have tried though

Most importantly, it all ended well.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

WOW, what a great story.

Has to be true because no way you can make that up.

Heck, Hollywood could not match it.

Rod Serling would have tried though

Most importantly, it all ended well.

I think what makes it so bizarre, is that it's completely unimaginable for a 14-year-old kid making thousands of dollars selling guns IN SCHOOL. The number of kids walking the halls to their lockers every morning, while openly carrying a long gun, would shock every schools' system in America today. And age didn't matter. Kids in 7th and 8th grade brought their guns to school in hopes of upgrading their shooting iron

It would have been a happier ending if we had started selling sneakers and ball gloves and beat Dick's to the market...LOL

They are building "Super Dick's Sporting Goods" now (called "Dicks House of Sport"), the second one in the U.S. built in the Binghamton area in honor of the original Dick's gun shop (which still exists on Court Street). It's two stories, 137,000 sq ft, has indoor golf simulators, outdoor soccer field, track, indoor and outdoor yoga classes, batting cages, even an ice rink, etc. Eventually, all cities will have a "Dick's House of Sports". Nine are currently under construction











 

Dick's back when we competed with him