Don Davis (April 10, 1933 – February 4, 2016) was an American gun retailer, the owner of Don's Guns and Galleries, a firearms retailer in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

. He claimed to be the largest independent gun dealer in the United States, and his store has been called the largest public display of firearms in America. For a while, he operated multiple 24-hour stores in the Indianapolis area. On October 4, 1997, Davis'

Greenwood, Indiana Greenwood is a city in Johnson County, Indiana, United States. The population was 63,830 at the 2020 Census. Greenwood is located between Indiana State Road 37 and Interstate 65. The city shares a border with Indianapolis and is the most popul ...

, store was robbed, and employee Steven Stapleton was shot and killed. Soon after the incident, Don closed all his stores except for the Lafayette Road

flagship store A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

, which reduced its business hours. On September 17, 2012, a customer visiting the store to utilize its indoor shooting range intentionally shot a store employee twice. The employee immediately returned fire, killing his attacker. Davis was named among the top five dealers who sell guns to criminals by the

U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

, ranked at #4. He said that the problem was not with his selling the guns, which requires

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

screening, but with those who purchase them and privately resell them, which he describes as a major

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in the gun control laws. Some area residents feel that Davis catered to a less-than-upstanding clientele, largely profiting from inflated prices for people that have been described as dubious. Davis was a vocal proponent of the

Brady Bill The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act ( Pub.L. 103–159, 107 Stat. 1536, enacted November 30, 1993), often referred to as the Brady Act or the Brady Bill, is an Act of the United States Congress that mandated federal background checks on ...

. He later called the bill largely ineffective because of its wording, which does not ban guns by type or firing capacity, but rather by specific technical attributes. Davis was locally known for his late night

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s. ''Indianapolis Magazine'' voted them as the worst Indianapolis-based commercials in 1984 and 1985. He traditionally ended them with his slogan, "I don't want to make any money. I just love to sell guns, heh-heh-heh." Buddy Kalick's Buddy's Carpet used this slogan in his earliest commercials with "carpet" substituted for "guns." Davis was interviewed by

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Michele Norris Michele L. Norris ( ; born September 7, 1961) is an American journalist who has worked as an opinion columnist with ''The Washington Post'' since 2019. From 2002 until 2011, she was co-host of the National Public Radio (NPR) evening news progra ...

on ''

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'' to discuss the sunset of the Brady Bill. He had previously been interviewed by

Paula Zahn Paula Ann Zahn (; born February 24, 1956) is an American journalist and newscaster who has been an anchor at ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, and CNN. She currently produces and hosts the true crime documentary series '' On the Case with Paula Zahn' ...

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

's ''

Paula Zahn Now Paula Ann Zahn (; born February 24, 1956) is an American journalist and newscaster who has been an anchor at ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, and CNN. She currently produces and hosts the true crime documentary series ''On the Case with Paula Zahn'' ...

''. He died at an Indianapolis hospital on February 4, 2016, aged 82.

References

External links

DonsGuns.com1993 TV commercial for Don's Guns
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Don 2016 deaths People associated with firearms Firearm commerce 1933 births Businesspeople from Indianapolis 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople