American Rifleman Field Editor Bruce N. Canfield is one of the nation’s leading authorities and authors on American military arms. You may not know his name, but if you read a story about guns ranging from the 1861 Springfield to the Garand or M1 Carbine in American Rifleman over the past two decades, you know his work. A genteel, soft-spoken Southerner, Bruce seems an unlikely choice for reality television, but he is a part of the History Channel’s hottest new show. Bruce told me that for executive producers, two things are hot right now on television: guns and Louisiana (I’m sure Will Hayden from “Sons of Guns” would agree). Both are combined in “Cajun Pawn Stars,” which airs Monday nights on History, and is filmed at Jimmy “Big Daddy” DeRamus’ Silver Dollar Pawn & Jewelry in Alexandra, La.
At times I have winced as “experts” are called in to talk about guns on such shows and whiff, often egregiously. There won’t be any whiffing with Bruce, as he has been called in for guns varying from the Liberator to the Cameron-Yaggi Trench Periscope to the Boys anti-tank rifle. Unlike “Pawn Stars,” which buys and sells only antique arms, Big Daddy’s shop has an FFL, and he even has a machine gun dealers’ license. He also deals in livestock, which is not germane to this blog. But the producers and Big Daddy like Bruce, and you will see him more and more on “Cajun Pawn Stars.”
Finally, a guy who really knows what he is talking about.
