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quidni,

To keep this "short" since it's OT...

1. I visit erratically. Next time I go, probably January the latest, I need to get 2-3 pounds of Blue Dot from Paul for some reduced loads for my 270 Winchester (also good for other 30-caliber class case-size cartridges, even .223s). I prefer to buy powder and primers locally to avoid HazMat fees on top of shipping charges.

2. Those yellow butterscotch candies...I may buy a bag and give them to Mrs. Lee to keep for me!

As I said, I don't mind shopping there and spending more occasionally -- to support my local gun store, and I told Paul that -- but the rest of the time I shop online and have Paul do the transfer, especially if the saving is too substantial to ignore.

But you know, as I get older I have decided to simplfy my life...to get rid of lots of my "stuff" which I now feel is a burden. That included guns/reloading dies/shell-plates, etc...WAY too many calibers and other gun stuff. Want to keep things SIMPLE now to only a FEW guns and calibers.

So in MY case, YES, you CAN have too many gun and too much ammo!

As for used-gun prices, yes, I remember one rough-looking (finish-wise) used gun there -- a small .45 auto -- it was priced over $1200...WAY too much IMO. So maybe it was the owner who though he could get that and set the price that high...maybe he did, who knows. I could have gotten a NEW Springfield V10 Ultra for much less (but that still was a bit larger than I wanted for CHL).

I ended up getting a new Beretta Tomcat 3032 (inox).

Any future handguns (no more long-guns needed) will be of the SAME calibers (4) I already have, no others.

Regards,

-- John D.

For some reason through the years, the Westside of El Paso has had lots of trouble keeping gunstores open for very long. I hope Paul Lee's survives.

Although his prices are MSRP or close to it, some of his used gun prices are outrageous and he has raised (I've been told) his transfer fee if you buy a gun elsewhere and have it shipped to him), it sure beats going to El Paso Gun Exchange (at least when Mr. Senior owned it), and Lee's is a more friendly place.

Some younger staff at Paul's helps (one of them packs a C-96 Mauser!), but even the older staff like Verle the gunsmith are friendly...MUCH unlike Kirk's (I've gone there off and on since the early 1980s, and have spent about 2 grand or so total)..."gruff" is a good word for them, "silent" is another.

I buy SOME guns from
Paul (so I really DO support my local gunstore) but buy OTHERS online and just have him do the transfer...prefer not to pay TOO close to MSRP ALL the time you know!

But for 20 years or so, I patronized THE MOST prolific and knowledgeable FFL guy in this whole area -- Bobby Bilingslea in Central El Paso -- to do my online gun sales/transfers with (as well as my reloading supplies source) but after MANY years trasferring guns for thousands of people here (his house was an unofficial UPS/FEDEX hub), he retired some time ago due to age-relaed health reasons (he's still around but not feeling all that good)...so I had to find another FLL...I chose Lee's over the other gunstores here.

Mrs. Lee keeps the candy bowl on the table full, but lately has been negligent in keeping my favorite candy in stock.

-- John D.

I won't miss Kirk's at all, except in a historical sense, because they were always the most UNfriendly gun store in town.

El Paso Gun Exchange was/is the most expensive (with their share of good old boys) and do a lot of police sales.

Paul Lee's Collectors Guns on the Westside, although newer, seems lots more friendly.

The old Starkey's gun shop out in the N.E. -- a fixture out there for decades -- was MY preferred store...until they closed.

Now I do business with Mr. Lee.

Anyway, those rude old guys behind the counter at Kirk's had/have zero interpersonal skills whatsoever -- IF they even talked to you at all -- and they don't seem even to care because they've been that way for decades.

What an unfriendly place Kirk's was to go/shop...I'm sure they've alienated plenty of potential customers.

Some people just don't know how to run a business "customer skills" wise.

-- John D.