County Gun Shows Weathering Public and Political Backlash : Sales: Vendors at event at Ventura fairgrounds resigned to more regulations, but business goes on.

Weekend gun shows have been forced out of the fairgrounds in Los Angeles County, but they are alive and well in Ventura County as evidenced by a two-day show that begins today at the Seaside Park fairgrounds in Ventura.

And many residents of this conservative county seem to approve of the five-times-a-year firearms shows that feature everything from antique rifles to the latest in legal weaponry.

“This still is America,” said Betty Williams, 73, of Ojai. “We should have the freedom to sell whatever we want.”

However, many of the 250 gun show vendors, facing ever-stricter laws on gun sales, say they feel that they are under siege. After Jan. 1, they must comply with a host of new gun-control laws passed in recent weeks in California in response to deadly rampages across the country.

Even harder to deal with, said veteran gun seller J.C. Smith of Palmdale, is a growing sense that the public is starting to turn against them.

“We are law-abiding people,” said Smith, standing next to rows of new and vintage shotguns and rifles on display. “But people look at you now and say, ‘What are you--a gun dealer?’ And there is derision in their voice.”

Many vendors said they are resigned to a new set of laws that will affect their business. Gov. Gray Davis last month signed legislation banning the sale of cheaply made “Saturday night specials” and imposed new limits on guns shows.

Under new laws set to take effect Jan. 1, minors will be prohibited from attending gun shows without an adult, and promoters of the shows must undergo a certification procedure. In addition, the bill requires promoters to post a list of regulations regarding firearms and obtain additional background information on the sellers of guns.

Promoter Pat McMann of Phoenix said he won’t be deterred by the new limits. McMann said he already requires children to be accompanied by adults and will make any other changes necessary to comply with the law.

What really chills promoters like McMann, however, is a vote by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors last month. After a run of two decades, Los Angeles County forced the nation’s largest gun show off its fairgrounds when supervisors voted to ban the sale of guns and ammunition on all county property.

The vote came after federal investigators arrested a vendor at a Pomona show who allegedly sold machine gun parts to undercover officers and later delivered illegal British Sten Mark II machine guns and Browning automatic rifles to the agents.

Ventura County’s fairgrounds at Seaside Park is owned by the state and no one has yet suggested a similar ban on state property. But McMann and other gun advocates worry that the current frenzy over gun laws could lead to more gun show bans.

“If we can’t sell guns, where are they going to buy them?” McMann said. “I can see where you are going to drive this stuff underground.”

McMann has operated five gun shows each year at Seaside Park for the past seven years and says he has never had trouble. He requires all his vendors to sign a contract that forbids them from bringing illegal guns or gun parts to the shows.

Six security officers patrol the two giant halls where the gun show is held to look for contraband merchandise. McMann said he also forbids the sale of racist and other hate literature. However, he does not check the IDs of young people entering the show without adults to make sure they are 18.

“We’ve been going on the honors system until now,” he said.

About 5,000 people are expected to attend the two-day event, which also features displays of knives, coins, jewelry and western Americana collectibles. McMann insists it is a “family show” that draws people from all corners of the county.

“Gun shows have a lot in common with churches,” he said. “You will find doctors, lawyers, blue-collar workers and police chiefs.”