OGDEN -- There's a lot a person can learn by attending the Utah Gun Collectors Association Antique and Modern Gun Show continuing today at the Weber County Fairgrounds Exhibit Hall.
You can study an expansive display of Native-American artifacts under the title of Surviving Adversity,
You can ask questions about and see the latest in light-weight personal handguns.
Or you can meet someone who looks suspiciously like one of the country's founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin, whose authentic clothing goes right down to his blue tights, large-buckled shoes and small, round spectacles.
"We're trying to get people to recognize their freedoms before they lose them," said Franklin look-a-like, Gregg Hardy, of Highland.
Director of the Colonial Heritage Foundation, Hardy and his colleagues routinely travel to schools, gun shows and other events to educate the public.
Theirs is just one of 150 booths at the gun show that runs through 4 p.m. today.
The Utah Gun Collectors Association has successfully run gun shows in Ogden for more than 50 years, said president Bill Hockett of West Haven.
Hockett was pleased with the paid attendance Saturday, which he said was about 600 as of 1 p.m., saying the number were down only slightly even though another gun show was under way at the same time near Salt Lake City.
"We've been setting record numbers for over a year with our gates," he said, noting the association holds three shows a year in Ogden.
Hardy and a handful of associates, all dressed as colonials, passed out copies of the United States constitution and showed firearms used to fight the Revolutionary War.
The Franklin actor readily hands over an unloaded authentic 1750s model Second Model Brown Bass .75 calibre rifle for visitors to try firing.
Much longer and heavier than today's firearms, the antique immediately brings an understanding to all who hear from Hardy's colleague, Neldon Bullock of Lehi, about how the gun was the most popular for both the British and American armies.
Hardy said he's noticed a marked interest in gun shows since President Barack Obama became a noteworthy public figure.
"It's not just his policies, the man himself has sparked an interest in guns," Hardy said.
"There has been an awakening in the general population that there is something wrong. A lot of people don't know about fixing the problems they perceive in government."
While he understands the sentiments behind gun owners wanting to protect their right to form a militia, Hardy believes education to be a more powerful tool.
He hopes to educate as many people as he can about peaceful ways people can change what they don't like about their government.
"Our founding documents allow for peaceful and civil changes to the government," he said. "It's an important fact for people to learn."
But Rick Neff, owner of a Civil War cannon replica business in Malta, Idaho, said he's heard and seen evidence that people are becoming well stocked on personal firearms in this country.
"We have the best-equipped militia right now in this country that we've ever had," he said.
Attending several gun shows a year, Neff said he's seen a spike in their popularity.
"The ammunition dealers have done wonders," he said.
At around $4,000 apiece, Neff said he doesn't regularly sell a replica cannon at any given show but he does enjoy handing out free packages of Jelly Belly candies and telling people about the cannon he built for that company. It's used to shoot up to 36 small packages of the treats at a time.
Neff also sells historical flags.
The most popular, he said, is the Confederate battle flag.
"I think it's just people's discontent with the government and the way they are running things," Neff said. "Discontent is getting more serious."
A number of the booths at the show feature western art.
Ted Murdock of Nephi said he likes to bring his precious gems to sell at the gun show because of the clientele it brings.
"Most people that come to a gun show understand value," he said.
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