How can you say you’re in Texas without saying you’re in Texas?
That’s right. If you’re at “The Best Darn Gun Shop in the World!” (exclamation point, to boot).
I didn’t set out to find this place, but when picking up pet food for Mac– it was in the same strip mall. And WHO AMONG US would not walk toward the sign reading “The Best Darn Gun Shop in the World!”?!
Turns out, The Best Darn Gun Shop was also pretty classy– with hardwood floors, solid wood gun racks, and a sign politely asking People Who Love Weapons to kindly holster them. Not to mention, troves and troves of impeccably-kept antique guns.
For reasons unexplainable to me, The Best Darn Gun Shop also had a huge collection of fine art– antique woodcuts and lithographs of battles, elaborate scrimshaw tobacco pipes, and an ancient Edo-era Japanese wooden cart. And look, these were legit– as closely as my friend (who is in the arts) could discern, these were not fakes.
We asked how the art exhibit in-store came to be, and the employees let us know (with a shrug) that the owner had a fascination with these types of artifacts. The scrimshaw pipes were carved with incredible detail, and were frankly, nicer than other scrimshaw examples I’d seen in museums.
The Best Darn Gunshop in the World (!) was perhaps an overstatement, but I’ll never know– as I don’t make a habit of frequenting gun shops. But this one was clean, professional, and full of surprises, like their extensive collections of art, decorative and field-worn military uniforms, and other historical accoutrements.
I didn’t stay long at the gun store, as I had no business to conduct there. But, I did stay long enough to challenge one’s perceptions of what a gun store might be like.
Posted by Sun
