Thursday, December 2, 2010

Meet the ATF Snitch Day! Dan Shea, popularizer of R.A. Bear in the minds of the gun cops of the ATF, hosts a gunshow in Phoenix!

Earliest known photo of Dan Shea's best snitch work -- ATF "Person of Interest" R. A. Bear.

Yes, folks, now you can see a real ATF snitch up close and personal!

The Small Arms Review Show West will be held at the Arizona State Fairgrounds, Phoenix, AZ, Dec 3, 4 & 5, 2010. That's this week, R.A. Bear fans!

The Public Show Hours are as follows:

Friday, Dec 3th 12:00 pm -5:00 pm
Saturday, Dec 4th 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Sunday, Dec 5th 9:00 am - 4:00 pm

Be sure and ask for him at the SAR table! Bring a stuffed toy bear as a present! Better yet, dress up as a stuffed bear and walk around claiming to be CPT R.A. Bear of the Dogtown Rangers! Go to the Friday meeting of the NFATCA and ask rude questions!

And remember, when you finally track down Dan Shea and shake his hand, tell him Mike Vanderboegh says "Hi!" Tell him I hope to see him at a congressional hearing real soon.


Allen said...

hmm wasn't Shea the the guy that walked off with the till from the Hiram Maxim machine gun shoot up in maine a few years back?

and they haven't had a shoot since?

it was right about the time that moose lake publishing (the company that publishes SAR)moved to nevada.

Anonymous said...

Mike, I could be wrong but I get the feeling you don't like this guy...

That's good enough for me!

Couple of novelty shops carry itching powered there and it's always hot! I'm just sayin that it would be too bad if it happened... And it is a pleasant thought if somebody happens to have access...

Anonymous said...

Wonder if they know what the "R" stands for. I actually do. R.A. Bear isn't his "full" given name, or even the initial name he was given at "birth". Just how good is their intel? Be amusing to know.

Anonymous said...

Say what you will about Dan Shea, but this is a VERY good gunshow compared to the usual shows held in AZ.

Every vendor will be there, and lots of good deals to be had.

I'm heading up on Friday, like I have done for every December SAR show.

Is it really a bad thing that he apparently managed to cause the ATF to spend millions on trying to find a stuffed bear?

Anonymous said...

I'm going to laugh long and loud if it comes out that Mr. Bear was a convenient cover for the real Mr. Bear, and that the ATF got stuffed twice... once going for a toy bear, and twice losing the real one.

Nice job, ass wipes....

Anonymous said...

SAR is an interesting magazine, Show hasn't been as much of a good time as the old SOF Combat Weapons Conventions (and I STILL have my t-shirts from them), Shea has done some things of questionable ethics. Maybe it is questionable, as to ethics, that I have a SOF show t-shirt with Janet Reno wearing a strap-on and porking "THE AMERICAN GUN OWNER"??? Makes me laugh, though, made me laugh back then a couple eons ago.

It's a "guarded" party of a lot of wealthy people with a lot vested and a lot of "riff-raff" that pay the money to go in and buy lesser treasures than miniguns and howitzers.

The thing people that mostly read THIS might not understand, is that a LOT of SOTs (and even garden variety FFLs other than crufflers) are somewhat running SCARED. They have a LOT of inventory and money vested and they are "looking out for number one". It's ugly, but, people are ugly, and it's a fact that that's how it's currently going down.

The people that are SERIOUSLY involved in NFA and other interesting things do NOT need a trade show to find out who has what, how, where, or how much. It's a trade show where people get together and write off seeing a bunch of old friends and acquaintances and a couple decent drunks on their taxes at the end of the year.

On the mini-tangent--I know where two miniguns are (that have nothing to do with Dillon Aero) that are for sale. So do many others. I know where a couple of Ferrets are for sale. Tanks... ... ... ... ...The show is mostly just a party, if people happen to sell things there, that's nice too.

Think of it like a decent Hot-Rod show. Mostly nobody goes to Hot-Rod shows to buy cars and they often aren't even looking to meet other enthusiasts, as they already know MANY of the people there.

Nice eye candy. Not much in deals to be had on anything spendy, as people usually aren't in a hurry to sell anything if it's interesting. Some weasels. Some good people. Lots of cops of all persuasions.

Wouldn't tell people not to go, but I think I painted a pretty good picture of what it is and isn't.