oregonlive.com reports that the Powder Horn Gun Shop is closing its door after 32-years. The feature is one of those warm-fuzzy deals, full of customer camaraderie and ballistic bon amie. Pardon me while I rain on Mr. Hunker’s parade. Judging from this article, the Powder Horn has the exact same vibe as one of my local gun stores. The place is lousy with seventy-somethings with no place to go, going no place, buying not a whole lot, acting like they own the place (which in a way they do), intimidating newbies with their insider jokes and their simple physical presence. Anyone who isn’t of a certain age feels like a second class citizen, and gets treated like one. See that hat? Putz? Do you want to buy a gun from a putz? Or is Mr. Hunker’s lid some kind of statement about you, the customer? I wish Mr. Hunker well. But it seems as if his store is emblematic of the firearms industry’s inability to modernize the retail experience, to draw in a younger clientele. Thanks to Darwin, it will. As far as I’m concerned, it can’t happen soon enough.
