QUICK TRIP TO SPOKANE

It all started with the senior games last May. Mike did fairly well in the pistol shooting competition and remarked that it was rather amazing since he didn’t have the appropriate gun. I suggested that he buy a pistol if he enjoys target shooting.

So, over the ensuing months, Mike studied pistols and made his selection. Last month he called the Post Falls Cabela’s store and bought a Browning Buckmark, but because we are Washington residents (Post Falls sits in Idaho close to the Washington border), the procedure was for Cabela’s to deliver the pistol through a gun dealer in Spokane. The dealer notified us that he was holding the pistol for us, and naturally, Mike was eager to pick it up.

“We could go today,” I suggested.

“That’s what I was thinking,” said Mike. It was cold, but the weatherman said any snow would fall in the evening. We planned a couple of other Spokane stops, put together some snacks, grabbed our winter coats, loaded Nellie into the back of the Magnum, and off we went.

First stop – the Tandy store for leather supplies. The GPS took us right to the door of the shop. Then, we were supposed to find Jo-Ann Fabrics, but somehow I didn’t get the right address (don’t ask). I was willing to drop that stop since it was already afternoon and I had no specific reason to go there. After lunch at a Subway (where else?), we headed out Sprague Avenue, Spokane’s industrial / commercial / low life district to find the gun shop.

We were traveling along when the GPS warned us to make a left turn and head back in the other direction on Sprague. Mike was obedient, thinking we were going to the gun dealership. “Arrive – Empire -- Cycle,” he read aloud from the GPS screen. I had to laugh. Indeed we were passing Empire Cycle, a Triumph motorcycle dealership, which has been our destination on more than one trip to Spokane – just not today. You have to watch those GPS units and do your own thinking!

Again heading east on Sprague, we traveled miles – literally miles – out to an area we used to call Veradale.  This time human error got in the way – some transposed numbers in the address – but that was just a trifling matter and soon corrected. We located the gun shop and when the paperwork was completed, the dealer showed Mike the gun.

“Do you have a concealed weapons permit?” the dealer asked. Mike answered in the negative. Nothing was said at that point and business continued.

Then, as Mike was finalizing the business, the dealer said, “You did know that you can’t take the gun with you today, didn’t you?” No, we didn't.

Neither Cabela’s in Post Falls nor this dealer (to whom Mike spoke several times) mentioned this waiting period and the advantage of obtaining a concealed weapons permit. Unless you have the permit – meaning your background search is already on record – you have to wait 3-5 days for the faxed paperwork to be approved and returned. It’s no big deal if you live in Spokane, but for us it constitutes another 200- mile round trip, not to mention the disappointment. Comparing the cost of the permit to the cost of gas, we agreed that had we known, it would have been worthwhile to purchase the permit through our home county and make one trip to Spokane.

So, we’ll have to go back – or maybe Mike will go on his motorcycle when the weather is warmer.

[Sorry -- no pictures today.] KW