I have seen the "cool" firearms such as ARs, AKs, and semi-automatic pistols being sold at private tables plenty of times, it can be hard to distinguish the private sellers at first as some do not display that info. It is not at all uncommon. I go to the Houston shows and the surrounding areas such as Pasadena. I tend to only buy from private sellers as the prices can be good if you have patience and with the bonus of no paperwork. aside from he tables there are plenty walking around selling stuff privately as well. Thats where you see a lot of ARs and other SA rifles.K.Mooneyham wrote: ↑Tue Aug 20, 2019 1:04 am I'm with Scott Farkus in that the gun shows I went to at (primarily) the Will Rogers in Fort Worth had only a handful of sellers who weren't FFLs. Seemed that mostly the private sellers had a few mil-surp bolt-actions, "hunting" bolt-actions with scopes, maybe an older shotgun or two, and nice, but well-used, revolvers. They usually wanted WAY too much, as they were obviously very proud of the firearms they were trying to sell. Or maybe the wives had told them they needed to sell something before buying something else, and they "priced accordingly". All the "cool" firearms such as ARs, AKs, and semi-automatic pistols were being sold by FFLs.
I have never, in 30 years of going, seen an ATF booth. I have seen the occasional agent. FFLs run NICS off their phones or laptops at the table right in front of you usually.