"There is no gun show loophole. I have yet to have somebody show me what the gun show loophole is," said Everett Smith, 52, a seller of law enforcement equipment in West Virginia. "You can probably find a bodega owner who sells coke out of the back door. But do all bodega owners sell coke out of the back door?"

Smith's point was that a few bad actors shouldn't justify a sweeping change to gun laws.

"You can't legislate crazy," he said. "I don't think anyone believes [Aurora] wasn't a tragedy. But there are tragedies with drunk drivers, and we don't put breathalyzers on the Chrysler minivan."

Smith, who spent Friday afternoon selling different types of concealed weapon holsters -- a popular one in the hall was an insert for a woman's purse -- extended this argument to 100-round magazines, arguing that they are no more different or dangerous than a car that can go 300 miles per hour. When reminded that such a car would cost tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars, while high-capacity magazines can sell for $150, he shifted the conversation to his most expensive holster. (It costs about $100.)