HUNTING FOR THE TOP GUN : Buyers of Various Calibers Browse Shops in Search of Firearms for Sport, Hobby or Their Personal Security

The Pony Express gun shop looks a little like a hunting lodge inside. Water buffalo heads and stuffed fowl adorn the walls, along with paintings of Indian chiefs.

Glass cases display $8,500 Italian shotguns and 17th-Century pistols with ivory grips. A handful of patrons browse through the aisles.

People speak quietly here.

“It’s the tradition of this store,” said Arthur Kabadaian, a Pony Express salesman. “We’re into the elite.”

Across the San Fernando Valley, at B & B Guns in North Hollywood, the place is noisy and busy. The guns most prominently displayed are Uzis, AK-47s and other paramilitary assault rifles favored by foreign armed forces. A photograph of Dirty Harry hangs on the wall.

Customers take a number and wait to be served by hurried salesmen, some of whom wear holstered pistols on their hips.

Supermarket Style

“When you’re talking about a supermarket--you bet we’re a supermarket,” said a man who asked to be identified as “Bob the manager.” “We sell 40,000 guns a year between our wholesale operation and two stores. But that doesn’t mean our quality is bad.”

This is the busiest time of year for gun shops. Deer and bear season opened in parts of California last month. Elk, wild pig, duck and dove seasons will arrive this month and in October and November.

“Everybody’s getting pretty antsy right now,” said Tom Noroian, the manager at tiny Art’s Guns in Reseda, where 80% of the customers are hunters. “We can probably average five shotguns and rifles a day. People are getting ready.”

But hunters aren’t the only ones buying. Gun collectors, target shooters and people looking for self-protection purchase firearms year-round.

Valley Stores

And they all have a place to shop in the Valley.

Of 20 or so local gun stores, some cater to the masses--B & B sells 20 handguns to non-sporting shooters each day. Other shops prefer to sell to serious enthusiasts. There are sporting goods shops that keep only a few guns. There are surplus stores that have a small counter at the back.

“I don’t want to say anything bad about any of the stores,” said Ted Hauser, who regularly peruses gun shops in the Valley. “It depends on what you’re looking for.”

Hauser has been a gun aficionado since childhood, and his favorite store is Pony Express, where he’s been a regular for 20 years. Now that he’s retired, the Northridge man drops by several afternoons a week.

“Look at the guns in here,” he said.

It’s primarily collector’s fare at Pony Express. A Luger pistol from the Third Reich is priced at $329. An 1860 Henry rifle costs $10,000. People who buy such guns will probably never fire them. There aren’t any paramilitary weapons in the shop, and that’s fine with Hauser.

“You kind of get the feeling there is an extremism there,” he said.

Hauser motioned to the paraphernalia displayed around the shop. Military uniforms from both World Wars. Cartridge pouches from the American Civil War. A life-size wax figure of Gen. George S. Patton stands in the corner with a $3,900 price tag.

“This place is like a museum,” Hauser said, with obvious approval.

The atmosphere isn’t so grand at Western Surplus in North Hollywood.

This place is billed as “Home of a Thousand Bargains, Levi’s for the Entire Family, Guns and Ammo.” The selection at the gun counter is limited, but prices are low. Electric Stun Guns were recently on sale for $24.99.

Pistol Shopping

The Davis brothers, Mark and Eric, walked in one morning looking for a pistol. They were interested in a particular model and wanted to take it apart--some gun enthusiasts like to disassemble a pistol and get a good look inside before they put down their money.

But the salesman said no, and there followed a good deal of shouting. Finally, the Davis brothers stormed away. Outside on the sidewalk, they discussed gun ownership.

“I like to have some home protection,” Mark, 23, said. He added that with so many shootings occurring, “I have a right to protect my family.”

The problem is, Mark said, a lot of gun owners haven’t been taught to use a firearm properly. Eric, 27, said guns should be added to the public education curriculum.

“They should have it in the schools,” Eric said.

With that point made, the brothers left--there were other stores, other handguns to look at. They were heading to B & B where, they said, low prices outweigh an unpleasant shopping atmosphere.

“The guys behind the counter have guns and they have this attitude,” Mark said.

From a block away, you can tell that B & B is a different kind of gun store. There’s the big, concrete facade, and the premises are fenced off.

Inside, paramilitary assault rifles line the walls. Bayonets are prominently displayed with educational books, including: “Handguns and Self-Defense--Life Without Fear,” “Rape--Fight Back and Win” and a paperback sporting the picture of a pistol-wielding woman and the title “Self-Defense Requires No Apology.”

“Hunting weapons do not generate the biggest dollar volume,” Bob the manager said. He said semiautomatic assault rifles “are a big mover because they are fun to shoot. People who buy paramilitary buy tremendous amounts of ammunition because they go out and shoot it up. They’re target shooters and plinkers--people who go out to the desert and shoot at beer cans.”

Guns for Defense

Handguns for self-defense are also a big seller at B & B. A customer who recently bought a pistol there was overheard speculating about using the weapon against a criminal. The salesman nodded in agreement.

“Execution in the streets is the only way to go,” the salesman said.

Anyone who wants to buy a gun in California must apply for a state permit. There is a 15-day wait while the state Department of Justice runs a background check. If the applicant has been convicted of a felony, or if he or she is a state mental hospital patient, the application will be denied.

More than 273,000 Californians applied for permits in 1987. According to a Department of Justice spokeswoman, 1,702 of those people--less than 1%--were denied.

Gun shop owners say they worry about one of their guns turning up as a murder weapon. But they insist they can’t do much more than trust the government’s background check.

State’s Judgment

“We have to leave that up to the state,” said Paul Raymond, the assistant gun manager at Turner’s Sporting Goods in Reseda. “You can’t judge people by what they look like.”

Turner’s caters to hunters, and Raymond figures that not many hunting rifles are used for liquor store robberies. So, on a Tuesday afternoon, a salesman at the store wasn’t talking about crime; he was talking about wildlife.

“A deer is pretty stupid,” Tim Burns said. “A coyote is smart. They’re tough little critters; they can really hide and they’re fast.”

During the spring and summer months, a number of Turner’s regular customers hunt coyotes because they are one of the few animals that can be shot all year in California. There are also plenty of coyotes in nearby Angeles National Forest, which is the only place in Los Angeles County where guns may be fired. During hunting season, sportsmen must travel to neighboring counties to track their prey.

“It’s a way to sharpen your hunting skills in the off-season,” Burns said of coyote hunting.

A merchandise rack in the store displays $4 whistles that coyote hunters can use to simulate the cries of a wounded mouse. “Few predators can resist a wounded mouse,” the whistle’s package says.

Of the many hunting rifles on display at the store, semiautomatics are best for coyotes because the coyotes are so fleet, Burns said.

“If you miss the first shot, you may need the second, third, fourth and fifth.”

That’s the kind of talk that goes on at gun shops. Hunters discussing animal instincts. Target shooters comparing the balance and grips of various guns. Plinkers talking about ammunition and desert fun spots.

Individual Tastes

“Those people go out and shoot at rocks and trees,” said Noroian, at Art’s Guns. “It’s their fun. Everyone has their sport.”

Art’s regularly sells paramilitary guns to plinkers, despite the small shop’s reputation for serving mainly hunters.

Jim Davis, the gunsmith at Art’s, likes to steer customers away from the AK-47 and other such weapons. He thinks the modern, black rifles look horrible and he doesn’t prefer the customers who buy those guns. Davis told of two young men who came into the shop several weeks ago looking for an assault rifle.

“One of them was carrying a red handkerchief and the other one had red sneakers,” Jim Davis said. “I knew those colors. I knew what the scoop was . . . gang members. Real quick, they were told to leave.”

Public opposition--talk about outlawing handguns--has made selling guns a less enjoyable business, Jim Davis said. This makes it tough for a man who has spent his life with triggers and bullets.

“I’ve been a gunsmith for 46 years,” he said. “I come from a long heritage of firearm people.”

Besides, he said, there’s something personal about selling firearms to people who really appreciate them. It’s not like a business at all, he said.

“I don’t have a bunch of customers coming into my store. I have friends.”