Pawn Shop Circuit: Handguns & Hurricanes

I swung into Kenny's shop today to say hello and check out the merchandise. Kenny greeted me with a smile, but he shook his head when I asked if he had anything old and blue. I went to take a gander at his stock anyway.

Kenny had a Beretta 92FS on the shelf. That is not a common pistol to find in a pawnshop. They are almost always reliable, given a decent magazine. This one was in decent enough shape, with a fair amount of finish wear. It was obviously a duty gun. Kenny had it priced attractively at $349.

Sitting on the end of the handgun line-up was a Smith & Wesson Model 64-3 for $279. This revolver is a stainless version of the venerable S&W Model 10. This one had a heavy pinned barrel, making it a pre-1982 gun. It also had Goodyear grips installed, but was in great shape otherwise. Had it been a blued gun, I might have bought it, but the stainless guns do not hold the same allure for me. I have a couple of them, a Model 67 and a Model 66, and strangely enough, I just could not justify adding another. I held on to my money.

Kenny had a few other pistols on the shelf, including a Sig 239 priced at $399. It seems the pawn shop handgun selection and variations is down from the past couple of years. It has been that way most of this year. I suspect it is because the migration from New Orleans after Katrina has ceased, and those who moved away are now stabilized economically.