The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the right to bear arms, and about a third of American adults say they personally own a gun. At the same time, in response to rising gun death rates and mass shootings, the US surgeon general in July took the unprecedented step of declaring gun violence a public health crisis. RFI went to a fair for fans of firepower in the countryside of Pennsylvania to find out who is buying.
A modest yellow board at the roadside with the words "Gun Show - This Weekend" and an arrow underneath is the only sign that gives directions to this month's weapon fair in Quarryville.
Deep in rural Pennsylvania, the Solanco Fairgrounds that host the fair, are reachable via the PA272 from Lancaster, a road often blocked by the horse carts of local Amish, a strictly religious local group that rejects most forms of modernisation, causing traffic jams.
On the parking lot, large pick-ups stand in a row, and fair-goers flock through the narrow doorway that gives access to the venue.
The Quarryville gun show is organised by Eagle Shows, which is responsible for over fifty fairs yearly in some sixteen cities in Pennsylvania alone.
An entry ticket costs only $8 (€7,35), vendors who want to sell arms or weapons-related equipment pay $50 for a table, which makes Quarryville the cheapest venue; other venues charge up to $110 for a table.
On its website, Eagle Shows says it want visitors to "enjoy your Second Amendment rights" at the shows, where "virtue, liberty, and independence will be on full display" and which are the "perfect place to pick up your next firearm."
The show doesn't like the curious. "Unauthorised recording or photography" are "prohibited" and "violators will be ejected".
But inside, the atmosphere is friendly. A massive man with a beard and piercing eyes sells tickets and gives visitors a stamp on the back of their hand as proof of entry. A handwritten menu advertises hamburgers and cokes for a few dollars.
Groups of gun enthusiasts compare weapons, and swap stories. Every table has its specialisation: one promotes "ammo" with bullets in all sizes. Others have handguns, varying from classic Colt '45s and Ruger Vaquero's to smaller Berettas, lying in neat rows. Average price: $450 (€413).
One man sells antique Japanese rifles, and proudly shows a handgun, an imitation of a Nazi Luger pistol, with symbols of the Japanese Imperial Army. "Very rare in this shape," he says.
At another, table "master craftsman David Kline" sells handmade knives. "Inspired by Japanese skill, sharp as a razorblade" he boasts.
The large table with dozens of semi-automatic rifles attracts most of the attention.
Old Don sells old hunting rifles. He frequents the gun shows. He also sells scopes, small hunting knives and an old manual for Remington rifles.
"I was in a US army base in West Germany in 1984 - best time in my life," he says.
But he's sceptical about the future of America, he says. He doesn't want to say which candidate in the US presidential election - Kamala Harris or Donald Trump - he favours. But he is clearly critical about Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric.
"We are a country of immigrants. Why stop the immigrants? If you ask any of the people here to go back to their roots, they'll discover they come from somewhere else. Except for the native Americans. They are the real Americans. We should give the land back to them."
But his remarks strike a dissonant in the staunchly pro-Trump atmosphere that is prevalent at the weapon fair. The walls brand "Trump-Vance 2024" posters, referring to Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump, and his running mate "JD" Vance.
There's not a single mention of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris or her running mate Tim Walz to be found at the Quarryville gun fair.
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One stand shows a poster asking to sign up for the "Second amendment petition" for the "protection of free speech and the right to bear arms."
According to one pro-Trump campaigner sitting next to the table, a muscular man in his thirties who wears a T-shirt that says, "know your roots," Space-X and Tesla multi billionaire Elon Musk is behind this initiative.
"For every petition signed, we receive $47 from Elon," he says happily. "He is a visionary. In two centuries, there will be statues of him on Mars."
Pressure groups such as the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the Gun Owners of America have asked Congress to "vote down every bill, every treaty, every resolution, and every amendment that would infringe upon my Second Amendment freedom as guaranteed in our Bill of Rights."
According to the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) Pennsylvanians collectively bought a staggering 841,523 guns in 2023, which made the state ranking fourth on a national level, behind Texas, Florida and California.
The good news is that in terms of per-capita gun ownership, Pennsylvania, the country's fifth most populous state, ranks number 21, with "only" 859 gun purchases per 10,000 people in 2023. At the top of that list are Montana, Wyoming and Alaska with some 1,500 guns per 10,000 inhabitants each.
In fact, nationwide, gun sales decreased in 2023. The FBI report show that some 16.7 million firearms were sold in the US last year, the report said, 4 percent less than in 2022.
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Pennsylvania’s gun purchases dropped by 7 percent in 2023, according to the report.
Yet, an advisory published in July by the US surgeon general declared gun violence a "national health crisis," and suggested initiatives to prevent firearm deaths. According to the report, the rate of firearm-related deaths “reached a near three-decade high in 2021."
The Pennsylvania gun crowd doesn't seem to mind about the anti-gun rhetoric.
"It's still not easy to buy a gun here," says Don. Slightly disappointed: "it entails a lot of paperwork."
