Sportsman's Club Gun Show includes history lessons on guns

A basketball player checks his stats on the Noah Select System. The system measures the arc of the ball as players shoot to help improve their skills in shooting free throws and three-point baskets. Former Le Mars resident Alan Marty invented the system. [Click to enlarge]

The Le Mars Sportsman's Club will hold their seventh annual Gun Show this Saturday and Sunday, March 29 and 30, at the Plymouth County Fairgrounds in Century Hall.

The two-day event gives attendees the opportunity to buy, sell, trade and browse a wide array of handguns, rifles, shotguns, knives, gun cases, holsters, ammunition hunting supplies and reloading supplies.

Club members expect people from the four-state region to attend the event, with family members making it a weekend outing. There will be 140 tables available for vendors and displays.

Norman Mathisen will bring a special historical display to this year's gun show, and will feature a reproduction of an 1864 Confederate Cannon, called a Wentworth 6 pounder. According to Mathisen, the South had only three rifled and four smooth bore from England, and this is all they could get because of the Northern blockades.

Mathisen will display this cannon and will tell visitors a little history about their use. He has shot the cannon in competition the past two summers.

Mathisen will be dressed in Confederate period clothing as he explains the cannon.

"This is a very historical and piece and educational for men and women, boys and girls of all ages," according to Doug Pullen, organizer for the gun show.

Doors are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $5; children under 12 are admitted free with a paid adult. Lunch will available on the grounds during the show.

This year the Sportsman's Club will give away a rifle on Sunday. Between 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sunday, everyone will receive a free ticket for the drawing at the door. Winner must be present when drawing is held.

The Le Mars Sportsman's Club will use some of the proceeds from the show to fund their fall hunter's safety course, which is aimed at teens.

There's still time to book a table for the event. Contact Pullen at 546-7376.