Phyrfight Intel

“The gun show is one of five that is held in Tucson each year by Crossroads of the West, a Utah company. An answering machine greeting for the company on Saturday morning said, “Yes, the Tucson gun show in Arizona will be on.”

Bob Templeton, the company’s owner, said he and Crossroads of the West’s other leaders considered canceling the Tucson show, which is scheduled to run through Sunday, and even consulted with the fairgrounds operators about whether to do so.

Mr. Templeton said the organizers asked themselves: “ ‘Are we being insensitive?’ ”

He said they concluded that they were not.

“This really is not about guns,” he said, referring to the shooting. “It’s about mental illness and a person who had an agenda.”

Mr. Templeton said that none of the roughly 200 exhibitors had canceled, and more than a thousand people had shown up by early Saturday. ”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/us/16giffords.html?partner=rss&emc=rss