Pawn Shop Circuit: Overstocked and Gilded Triggers

I drove over to Neil's pawn shop this afternoon, and his handgun shelves and rifle racks were packed. Unfortunately he did not have any 1911s or Smith & Wesson revolvers. What he did have though were Glocks. He had big Glocks and small Glocks, 9mm Glocks and "fohty" Glocks. All were priced at $419. All were in decent shape. Neil used to price used Glocks around $350. I guess prices are going up all over.

Among the Glocks, Neil had a three inch Ruger .357 for $299, as well as revolvers made by Rossi and Charter Arms. For a moment I thought he had an ugly 1911 in the case, but it was a Llama. They are not the same.

Neil also had three times his usual stock of power tools, and at least thirty bicycles. I asked him what happened. He said he bought out another pawn shop. Among the bikes was a Trek ZX1220 ($250) a Trek mountain bike for a similar price, and a Raleigh Technium ($40). I didn't need a new used bike that badly, so I wished Neil well with his new found stock and drove over to Kenny's.

Kenny's pawn shop is a hole in the wall place, and Kenny is always happy to see me. A couple of years ago, I taught Kenny basic gun handling skills, and he capitalized on it by becoming the "firearms specialist" of the pawn shop he helps manage. His shelves were Beretta city today. He had a Beretta 96, a Beretta 92, and even the Taurus copy of the Beretta 92. The Italian guns had fared better than the Brazilian over the years. Of course the Brazilian may have led a tough life. Kenny had the Berettas priced at $329 and $359. The Taurus was running $249.

I chatted with Kenny a bit about him getting a CCW. He is still wavering back and forth, and I emphasized that as a manager, known to be carrying cash for deposit, he would be foolhardy to not go armed. He agreed, but continued to procrastinate. As we were chatting, I noticed a shotgun on his rack with a shorter stock than the others. I asked to see it. It was a Mossberg 505C, a 20 gauge youth model.

Hmmmmm. A couple of years ago, Little Darling fell in love with shotgunning. Watching me run a combat shotgun, she wanted her own gun to make big holes and loud booms. I had managed to find a Western Field 20 gauge that I cut down the stock and barrel on to fit her, but of course, the action remained the same. She had, however, taken to it with an enthusiasm that brought a sparkle to my eye. The little Mossy had twin bead sights, and a shorter throw on the action to compensate for the smaller shooter. I looked over Kenny's youth shotgun. Youth shotguns seldom appeared for sale used. This was the first one I had seen used in over two years. Kenny was wanting $179 for it, and the condition was like new. It looked as though it had never cycled a shell. He had all the chokes and the choke wrench. I twirled the price tag and lifted an eyebrow at Kenny.

"That one's like brand new Xavier," he said, "It's a good price." He was right. Plus, it had a gold trigger, and Little Darling likes her triggers gilded. As I reached for my billfold Kenny clandestinely whispered "There's an old Smith in the back still in hoc....Next time you come through, I'll have the model number for you."