Vegreville Wildlife Federation hosts Gun and Accessory Show

Vegreville Wildlife Federation hosts Gun and Accessory Show

Rosanne Fortier News Correspondent

Outdoor and hunting enthusiasts were able to enjoy a one-stop shopping experience at the 18th annual Vegreville Wildlife Federation (VWF) Gun and Accessory Show on February 22 and 23 at Vegreville Social Centre.

Citizens browse through all the interesting products.

(Rosanne Fortier/photo)

More than 45 vendors from all across Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia participated in the show, and sold a wide variety of items including: rifles, firearms, ammunition, war collectibles, hunting and camping gear, gun parts and accessories, knives, food, clothing, jewelry and more. Altogether, there were 125 tables of goods that were up for sale.

VWF Treasurer Al Rusnak, and VWF Past President Daryl Sapp, were co-organizers of the show, and they also received assistance from VWF President Peter Varga to make the event a great success. A total of 890 people attended the two day show. That was an increase of 5 per cent from last year’s total.

Sapp said hunting helps the economy all the way from firearms to camping gear to automobiles. “Hunters are sports people and when you have a passion you spend money on it. Western Canada is outdoors minded whether it is boating, hunting, or archery; it’s just another important part of helping the economy. The harvest is the bonus; people do it to gain an outdoor experience. It is just really enjoyable overall,” stated Sapp.

“Hunting also helps the eco-system. It is a way of keeping animals in check. If humans don’t do it, nature will take care of it and by that, I mean an overrun of disease. Hunting is one way of keeping the lifeline in check. Then the main purpose of this gun show is to have another way for people to come and look for firearms and firearms’ parts. There are vendors who are selling used firearms so for people who want to buy a gun at a reasonable price; they go to a gun show. Another purpose is to find out about firearms and how they work, so people go to a firearm show to gain information. You can also purchase guns and at our show, if you have a firearm you would like to sell, people could come in and sell the gun to the vendors here,” explained Sapp.

He went on to say he believes that this show always attracts such a big crowd because they cater to women as well as men. They give good service. Their vendors are very friendly. They advertise in different ways within a two and a half hour radius of Vegreville. Over the years, people want to come because it is a nice show to attend. It is another weekend for the local community because their vendors stay overnight in town; so the town’s restaurants, our gas stations, and food stores all get extra business.

Representatives with the National Firearms Association (NFA) were onsite for the event. NFA Field Officer Coleman Charlton said they are Canada’s oldest firearms organization which was founded back in the sixties. NFA is a volunteer donation based organization which lobbies and represents firearm owners and their rights. “I feel it is so important we have NFA because if nobody is there to represent us then the government might try to take more rights and restrictions from firearm owners.”

Callahan Charlton, Regional Coordinator for NFA Alberta, added that Bill C71 forced gun owners to keep their criminal records for 20 years. “There used to be five year background checks before people could apply for a gun license and now, there are lifetime background checks.”