2.23.2011

Little John's


So, I’m a little bit afraid of guns.
It’s because of movies. When do you ever see a gun in a movie that doesn’t eventually shoot someone? Right? Therefore: Gun = get tense, someone be getting shot, Yo (as the character with the gun might say).
Yeah, this thing shot some Nazis.
BUT my dad found one of my grandpa’s WW2 guns. Wow. So we went to a gun store (obviously) to try and sell it. And, in true gun store style, the owner explained, “What you got there is an antique. You need to go see Little John.” Like we were suddenly transported into a video game. “Little John can tell you all about any gun – practically tell you the color of the shirt of the guy who last used it. Hehe…”
“Oh… okay. How do we find this… Little John.”
“He’ll find you.” No, I’m kidding. He gave us directions.
And the pliers are for, what? Retrieving bullets?
Walking into Little John’s Antique Arms is just like being a kid in a Nintendo store IF you’re a 19th century pirate.
Seriously, if you’re a Civil War reenactor, a renaissance faire attender, a cowboy, or just a seriously creepy dude – go see Little John.
Little John stands 8 feet high, speaks with a lisp and is missing an arm. Sort of. In reality he IS very tall (taller than me, at least) and had his arm in a sling. The man is quite learned about antique guns. But to an outsider who didn't know there was SO much to know about weapons – watching Little John with this gun was like watching a psychic touch an article of clothing belonging to a missing child and then spew out a description of where he is. Magic.
They have auctions about every three months. I bet those are fun. My grandpa’s gun will be in the August auction.
C’mon… BIG MONEY!

8 comments:

  1. See! Real life is like video games, you just need to know where to look. Now onto my mushroom lunch...

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  2. I love the fable-y legend-type vibe you added to the story. What did he say about your grandpa's gun?

    @8D
    [man in turban and sunglasses and wide smile]

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  3. Did you at least get your free bottles of water with your first trade?...

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  4. He says he hopes the gun brings $250.

    "Find me in between the broken arrow and the guy mashing buttons."

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  5. dont sell the gun it's history and you can't replace it! 250 is not what you will get after the house fees dont do it

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    1. We got enough to cover the cost of my dad's visit to see me here in CA. I think it was worth it in that sense. :)

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  6. Hi Blaire! I'm an employee at Little John's. I hope the auction went as you hoped! Thanks for this great story.

    Oh, and the pliers are for MAKING the bullets! (Seriously, you almost couldn't buy bullets at that time (1835-1860ish), so people would literally make lead balls over a campfire). :)

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    1. Oh cool! Yeah, we did well. I'm glad you liked it!

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