Guns, guns and more guns — that’s the big draw at Southern Cash & Pawn in McComb.
The pawn shop at 224 State St. sells all sorts of items, from musical instruments, to jewelry, power tools and electronics.
But this time of year, with the combination of deer season and the holidays, customers swarm the gun counter.
A recent Thursday was no different, when a line of about 15 people in the shop extended around the corner of the gun counter.
“We’re selling about 20 to 30 (guns) a day. It’s generally always like this this time of year,” co-owner Joey Slipher said. “It’s tough to keep it stocked up.”
The key to success in the pawn industry is specialization.
“We specialize in guns. Every successful pawn business specializes in something. And in this area, guns are a big thing, and so it works out very well for us,” Slipher said.
Another big difference between Southern Cash & Pawn and other shops is they’ve had 28 years to acquire, sell and trade all manner of long guns and handguns. Over the years, they’ve built quite an inventory — around 500 guns in stock.
There’s even one handgun worth about $30,000, Slipher said.
“I’ve got more guns than anyone in this part of the state,” he said.
It’s not just the number, though. It’s the variety.
“What makes us different from other pawn shops is we have a variety of guns — antiques, military, tactical and hunting guns,” said Slipher, who runs the shop with his mother, Nell.
This year AR-15s are popular, as are deer rifles.
Popular gun brands include Savage Axis, Budgetline rifles, Ruger American and Marlin X7s.
Trades and transfers also are welcome.
“You can’t go to many places nowadays to trade. We are one of the only places. So we see a lot of trades,” Slipher said. “We also do transfers. Someone will buy a gun off the Internet and have them transferred here. Then we do the background check here and sell the gun.”
