SAKS, Ala. — Dale Whitfield of Saks purchased his fourteenth firearm Saturday at a gun show at the Calhoun County Fairgrounds. He described the purchase as a precautionary measure.

When asked what he was preparing for, Whitfield said "whatever comes."

He was asked to be more specific.

"You know," Whitfield said. He gestured.

Whitfield, 54, works in HVAC repair and has been collecting firearms for approximately 22 years. He said his collection includes pistols, rifles, and two shotguns, and that he stores them responsibly. His fourteenth purchase was a 9mm handgun of a brand he declined to name, which he said was "a solid choice for what it is."

When The Green Tomato noted that Alabama's firearms laws had not been significantly altered in recent memory and asked whether that affected his reasoning, Whitfield said the legal environment was "not really the point."

"The point is readiness," he said.

Whitfield said he had not yet determined where in his home the fourteenth gun would be stored, as he had "run out of obvious places" around gun number ten. He said he was considering a cabinet.

He has no current plans to purchase a fifteenth gun. He said he was "not ruling it out."

Gun show organizer Randy Tidwell said the event drew approximately 2,400 attendees this weekend, breaking the previous record set in November 2021. Tidwell attributed increased attendance to "general uncertainty."

The Green Tomato asked Tidwell to identify the source of the uncertainty. He said "everything, really" and then helped a customer.