He's baaaack....

[Woobie]

For those of you from ECI, you will recall Ludco Gunshop in Parker City (a scant 3 miles from my boyhood home). As most everyone knows, he made a straw sale and spent 38 months in club fed. Some time back he was released and started the shop back up, obviously without the FFL license and accompanying goodies.

I finally was able to stop in today to see him. I was pleasantly surprised to see how much stuff he has. He had some bullets I haven't been able to find anywhere. He has the best selection of powder I've seen anywhere. Maybe not the sheer volume of powder like Field's does, but definitely a great selection. He has a lot of other things besides reloading supplies.

Some people didn't know quite how to take Fred, as he has a dry sense of humor, and is a bit of a practical joker. To some people he was an outright jerk. I never had that experience, but I know some did. I would only say give him another shot. He seems like a new man, really. He is upfront about what he did, and I really think he is better for it.

If nothing else, it was nice to walk in and see an old boyhood haunt. It was sad to see the empty pistol cases, and no rifles piled up like cord wood behind the counter, or milsurp rack in the middle. But it's the same old shop, with a newer, better Fred.

 

[Wolfhound]

I will try to stop in sometime. Life is all about second chances.

I am always needing reloading supplies.

 

[Fullmag]

Stopped in there a couple months ago it was mostly fishing stuff and some gun cleaning equipment.

 

[Vigilant]

How is that possible? If he went down for a felony, is he not prohibited from even ammunition possession? Please correct me if I am wrong"

 

[SSGSAD]

IIRC, Reloading SUPPLIES, and AMMO, is two DIFFERENT things .....

 

[AngryRooster]

I'll have to stop in again and check it out. Sometimes he acted like it was a bother to ask him a question or want to see something, most of the time he was ambivalent and didn't seem to care one way of the other, a few times he was an outright prick. His selection & inventory could no be beat though. HUGE selection of used guns. S&W 3rd gens hanging from the ceiling and racks everywhere. My wife bought her 3913LS from him for $325 back in the day. I remember seeing a COP 357 NIB for many years, should have picked it up. He had one of the Thunder Ranch 45 ACP revolvers for a long time and just about every version of S&W Mountain Gun. If I could go back in time with what I know now my collection would be very different. I loved the little grab box of ammo as well. I used to enjoy digging through it and finding random HP rounds to test in water jugs.

Fred & I did go around once. I took a few different friends in there to shop, some of them bought stuff right then, others didn't. I came back a month or so later looking to shop again. I asked to see a few things, he huffed a bit. After the 3rd used gun I looked at he flat out asked me if I was going to buy something this time. There was no one else in the shop and when I came in he was watching TV. I told him that I had planned on it but didn't have anything particular in mind, just whatever caught my eye. He said something about me "never buying and wasting his time". I told him it would never happen again and left. On my next day off I took in my receipts for the guns I'd bought from him and put them on the counter, all 23 of them from the previous several years. He looked at them, realized who I was and all he said was "So?". I told him he wouldn't have to worry about me wasting any more of his time. That was several years before he got in trouble.

All that was a long time ago. I have no problem giving him a second chance. Things change and hopefully he's a better man for it.

 

[nra4ever]

Just think how much better he will be after another trip to club fed...

 

[jd4320t]

Yeah no thanks. Stick to fishing supplies and don't do us any more favors.

 

[Woobie]

How is that possible? If he went down for a felony, is he not prohibited from even ammunition possession? Please correct me if I am wrong"

Yeah, no ammo, just components.

 

[Woobie]

I'll have to stop in again and check it out. Sometimes he acted like it was a bother to ask him a question or want to see something, most of the time he was ambivalent and didn't seem to care one way of the other, a few times he was an outright prick. His selection & inventory could no be beat though. HUGE selection of used guns. S&W 3rd gens hanging from the ceiling and racks everywhere. My wife bought her 3913LS from him for $325 back in the day. I remember seeing a COP 357 NIB for many years, should have picked it up. He had one of the Thunder Ranch 45 ACP revolvers for a long time and just about every version of S&W Mountain Gun. If I could go back in time with what I know now my collection would be very different. I loved the little grab box of ammo as well. I used to enjoy digging through it and finding random HP rounds to test in water jugs.

Fred & I did go around once. I took a few different friends in there to shop, some of them bought stuff right then, others didn't. I came back a month or so later looking to shop again. I asked to see a few things, he huffed a bit. After the 3rd used gun I looked at he flat out asked me if I was going to buy something this time. There was no one else in the shop and when I came in he was watching TV. I told him that I had planned on it but didn't have anything particular in mind, just whatever caught my eye. He said something about me "never buying and wasting his time". I told him it would never happen again and left. On my next day off I took in my receipts for the guns I'd bought from him and put them on the counter, all 23 of them from the previous several years. He looked at them, realized who I was and all he said was "So?". I told him he wouldn't have to worry about me wasting any more of his time. That was several years before he got in trouble.

All that was a long time ago. I have no problem giving him a second chance. Things change and hopefully he's a better man for it.

You're not the only person who knew that Fred. But he was downright outgoing today. For the time I was in there, he was very friendly to everyone that walked in.

 

[2in1evtime]

Had a couple friends do some time they came out different and for the better!! Give people a second chance in life .

 

[bwframe]

I'll certainly make it a point to give Ludco some business next time I'm up in the area. I also grew up hanging out there.

 

[AngryRooster]

You're not the only person who knew that Fred. But he was downright outgoing today. For the time I was in there, he was very friendly to everyone that walked in.

Good to hear. I'll try to stop in there this weekend if I get the chance. I'm curious to see what the place looks like. I'll never forget the way it was before. I don't care how much inventory he has on hand right now, without all those gun inside the place will feel empty.

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

I decided long before he got into trouble that I'd never buy another gun from Fred unless I was putting the screws to him, instead of the other way around. I did buy one more, and it's still my bedside gun.. And yes, I did.
I think I'll pass on the new and improved Fred.

 

[Woobie]

Good to hear. I'll try to stop in there this weekend if I get the chance. I'm curious to see what the place looks like. I'll never forget the way it was before. I don't care how much inventory he has on hand right now, without all those gun inside the place will feel empty.

You're right, compared to what it used to be, it definitely feels empty.

 

[dave29]

38 months for a straw sale? Seems like there should be more to the story than that.

 

[BiscuitsandGravy]

For a minute I thought you were referring to the guy north of Ft. Wayne that sold from his basement. Similar odd attitude.

Can't remember his name.

 

[AngryRooster]

38 months for a straw sale? Seems like there should be more to the story than that.

Gun Shop Owner Arrested & Thousands of Firearms Seized Following Federal Investigation

Feds Confiscate Thousands Of Guns In Raid - TheIndyChannel.com


Now when they say the guns were "missing" from the shop that's not quite accurate IIRC. For those that have never been to Ludco's and seen his full inventory let me give you an idea. He had glass counters like every gun shop has, except they had 2 or 3 levels. Guns were layed in these glass counters however they would fit like a giant tetris puzzle. You would be lucky if you could take a 50 round box of 22 ammo and stand it on it's end between guns. The counter was about 15 feet across the store then turned in an "L" shape and went another 10 feet. Every inch was filled with guns except about 4' that had knives. Behind the counter there were hooks in the ceiling where handguns would hang, close to 100 of them. Also behind the counter were rotating racks, I think 2 or 3 of them. Each rack had about 4 rows of pegs on it, each row had 6 pegs, each peg held about 5 or 6 handguns by the trigger guard. It was a swivel tree of pistols like greeting cards. The back wall, OMG. There were hundreds of rifles of all different kinds lined up against it. No, they were not on the fancy little racks that hold one rifle per slot. They were stacked like cord wood. Out in the customer area there was an additional rifle rack that had surplus rifles and other lower dollar & used items. I never saw the back room but I'm told it was like a maze of firearms. There were gun boxes stacked from floor to near the ceiling in places.

This is a small area close to the cash register off to the side. Most of the stuff would be off to the right of him in this picture. You can see how the guns are stacked in the glass cases and a few hanging down. There is a very small section on the right edge of the picture where the rifle stack starts. This is one of the few pictures I could find of the inside. It in no way does his inventory justice. It was very interesting to see Gold Cups & BHP's hanging like Christmas ornaments.

The building is a 2 story building with what appears to be an apartment above it, don't know for sure, it could have been additional storage or his office. There is a separate building to the right that is not attached to the shop. From what I heard before a lot of those missing guns were stored in that other building due to lack of space. I seem to remember some talk from folks that know him that the straw purchase was to a felons wife, who passed the background check. Take that with a grain of salt, it was a long time ago when I heard about it

Looks like the grand total confiscated was 4300 firearms, 600K rounds of ammo, $160K
Gun Shop Owner Gets 4-Year Sentence - TheIndyChannel.com

 

[Woobie]

The storage building to the east was across the alley. As such it had a separate address, which was not on his FFL. After they found most of the "missing" guns, they found the rest in his storage. None were actually missing, but they got him for storing them at a separate address as well. He also had lousy record keeping, which I think cost him as well.

 

[bwframe]

38 months for a straw sale? Seems like there should be more to the story than that.

Another part of the story; The ambitious politician that Obama appointed to United States attorney that was looking to make a name for himself on the back's of gun shop owners. Somehow he's now landed as mayor of Indianapolis.

Hmmm...