The NRA at 16th St and Rhode Island Ave NW
I was raised in PG County, less than about 300 yds from Southern Avenue, near Naylor Rd. I used to beg my father to drive me down to the old NRA Headquarters bldg at 16th and RI to visit the National Firearms Museum in the basement. It was huge, just one glass display case after another with no one around. For me, it seemed like a trip to Gun Nivranna! For him, it was just a way to shut me up for a few days.
Both Memco and GEM operated in the DC area, but I think GEM started earler, and went out of business earlier than Memco. My father bought my first gun, a Spanish '93 Mauser, at the Memco in Clinton as a Christmas present.
JoeR
I used to park a few blocks away and walk over with my cased Mossberg .22 and shoot until closing time. No one batted eye. How about Memco Stores (or was it Gemco?). Bought a BP 1860 Colt there (early ‘70’s) for $40 and they had racks of Moisin Nagants for the same price. Heck, I took 2 semesters of rifle in college. And mass shootings were rare. It’s not the access to hardware, which has been increasingly restricted over the years. More restrictions won’t make people respect each other and choose to avoid conflict to solve differences but I’m afraid that’s where we are headed.
I was raised in PG County, less than about 300 yds from Southern Avenue, near Naylor Rd. I used to beg my father to drive me down to the old NRA Headquarters bldg at 16th and RI to visit the National Firearms Museum in the basement. It was huge, just one glass display case after another with no one around. For me, it seemed like a trip to Gun Nivranna! For him, it was just a way to shut me up for a few days.
Both Memco and GEM operated in the DC area, but I think GEM started earler, and went out of business earlier than Memco. My father bought my first gun, a Spanish '93 Mauser, at the Memco in Clinton as a Christmas present.
JoeR