OAKMONT, Pennsylvania — The delicate aroma of coffee beans and hand-rolled cigars begins to beckon your senses walking along Allegheny River Boulevard long before you find yourself standing in front of the Smoke N’ Guns shop.
Outside, four black leather chairs, spread a respectable 6 feet apart, are waiting for either the overflow of customers or for locals such as Marcello Frollo to hold court as he enjoys a rolled cigar along with his double espresso as he listens to the cars rumble along the brick-lined street.
Inside, the store is a visual delight, with a coffee bar and a handful of tables and chairs at the entrance, followed by boxes stacked high filled with the best cigars money can buy and an impressive walk-in humidor designed to keep them preserved at the perfect temperature.
In the back, there is a balcony overlooking the rest of the store and spanning its entire width. A glass display case hangs along the wall with an array of long guns. In the center, begging to be held, is a Tommy gun. Gregory “Gooch” Ionadi, the owner, waits to help you find the gun you need or want to protect yourself.
That is, if there are any left to buy.
“Prior to the COVID outbreak, President Obama was the best gun salesman we ever had. Anytime he was going to ban this, ban that, there was a rush on gun sales,” said Ionadi. When President Trump was elected, the fear of a gun ban subsided, and sales were so flat that several gun manufacturers went out of business, he explained.
Things changed dramatically in February in gun shops across the country, when the first concentrated COVID-19 cases in one town were reported out of New Rochelle, New York. “We made more here in those first two months of March and April than we did in the last three years of sales. It was crazy.”
It wasn’t just his regular customers walking in the door or calling the store. Many were people who never imagined themselves owning a gun, an experience reflected in the latest FBI statistics on background checks associated with the sale, transfer, or permitting of firearms. An all-time sales high was recorded in March when the virus outbreak hit and much of the country closed down — the FBI saw 3.7 million background checks.
When protests and riots started sweeping the country after the May 25 death of George Floyd, the FBI clocked another record in June when it conducted more than 3.9 million background checks.
Last month, as activists set fires, looted, and called for defunding or abolishing the police, the FBI numbers show that more than 3.6 million firearm background checks were conducted, making July the third-highest month on record.
Those numbers reflect Ionadi’s experience: a surge in sales in March and April followed by big numbers in June and July following the riots.
“You wouldn’t believe the first-time gun buyers I’ve seen,” said Ionadi. “I started seeing little old ladies, 70, 80 years old, wanting to defend themselves because of what was going on. So, I had to change my thinking. I had to start buying 22 Magnum revolvers. I have some revolvers here, but I had to start buying revolvers that women and older folks could use because they are easy to handle. Semi-auto and a revolver are two different things.”
Tall, built like a linebacker ready to take the field, with piercing blue eyes and a larger-than-life personality, Ionadi pulls a couple of guns out of the case to explain how he helped first-time buyers:
Smoke N’ Guns is the kind of place where everyone has a nickname, beginning with Gooch, the proprietor, and extending to the customers. It is a place of family, roots, and connection. There are guys sitting outside smoking a cigar, inside getting their coffee, and nonstop calls from around the region to see if there are particular guns and ammo in stock.
It used to be the kind of place where young women bought their wedding gowns, bridesmaids’ dresses, and elegant eveningwear when Gooch’s mom had her dress shop here.
“It was called Ionadi Bridal and Boutique,” said Gregory Ionadi, Gooch’s father, who was sitting outside and taking in the breezy summer day, “My wife had that for 25 years. The bottom floor was all prom dresses. Where the balcony is, we used to do an upscale women’s casual, mother of the bride, and bridal.”
When the dress store closed, Ionadi the elder found himself bored, and Gooch had long envisioned the store they have today in his head. Between the elder’s boredom and the younger’s idea, both men are living the dream.
Pre-pandemic, Gooch worked full-time as a Local 5 electrician during the day and then worked at Smoke N’ Guns from 4 until closing. But he has been laid off from his day job since February. The elder Ionadi worked full-time as the Verona postmaster during the day, then, after 4, worked the dress shop with his wife.
“Work ethic is a big deal in our family,” the 75-year-old Ionadi said. “You eat every day. You work every day. That’s the way it is. I’ll work until I can’t work.”
Within five minutes, Gooch took a half-dozen calls for people looking to buy something specific, from, “Not sure about that Glock,” to, “I am out of that ammo,” to, “Sure. Come in this evening, and I’ll show you what we have.”
His father served up a frosty coffee drink confection with an impressive amount of whipped cream on top to a customer outside. A “Make America Great Again” hat was propped on top of a beautifully carved wooden statue. Behind it is a framed photo of President Trump.
Inside and out everyone was in a mask, everyone was at a distance, respect for each other was key, and wearing a mask was the rule. “I am not arguing with people who don’t want to wear a mask before coming in here,” Gooch said. “Wear a mask. I don’t want this thing. I don’t know what it is. To this day, you’re getting arguments that it’s fake. Well, maybe it is. Maybe it isn’t, but I want to be safe. I want my dad to be safe. I want my mom to be safe. I want my wife to be safe, my kids.”
His wife, Kim, smiled and brought him a cut from a hoagie about as long as the counter she set it on and urged him to take a break for lunch, hours after the noon hour passed. “I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be a busy, long night.”
