GunSmoke in deep shit.

[Sawin]

The show itself was largely staged. Like the majority of the shows on Discovery, these days are staged to some degree.

....

I know people that really like the guy. I have had 5 different conversations with the man. Two of them were really positive, three of them caused me to wonder what planet he lived on.

the reality is the lines of fact and fiction have been so blurred with the guy, and so many people have had completely different expereinces with him, it makes you wonder if he has some sort of personality disorder

This sounds exactly like a guy I went to college with, back east. He's actually quite smart, but is a habitual exaggerator, if it's not an outright lie. His first impression is always positive to folks who just meet him, so he actually does get some interesting opportunities quite often, but he can never make much out of them because of oral diarrhea. It's always just a matter of time with people like that... I'm certain my old classmate has a personality disorder. Absolutely positive.

[Aloha_Shooter]

Is it that unusual for a business owner to file income taxes that low? I don't think it is.

^ This. He could well have had a lot of capital outlays for the TV show that he's now claiming as losses since the show wasn't renewed, bad bets on precious metals, etc. The IRS is still going to investigate because the claimed income is so low but it CAN turn out to be legit.

I have no personal experience so will accept others' opinion that he's a schmuck but have no desire for evil things to happen to him or his family. There seem to be a lot more people wanting bad things to happen to him than people who had first-hand bad experiences which seems to me to be a sign of envy; I just thought his TV show was shit and I'd never do business with him.

[mtnhack]

^ This. He could well have had a lot of capital outlays for the TV show that he's now claiming as losses since the show wasn't renewed, bad bets on precious metals, etc. The IRS is still going to investigate because the claimed income is so low but it CAN turn out to be legit. I have no personal experience so will accept others' opinion that he's a schmuck but have no desire for evil things to happen to him or his family. There seem to be a lot more people wanting bad things to happen to him than people who had first-hand bad experiences which seems to me to be a sign of envy; I just thought his TV show was shit and I'd never do business with him.

I get that a business owner could have this going on, but supposedly his name is not on anything. Ok, this is fine too, no business, no income, no taxes. But now explain the house and the condos.

[TheGrey]

Never met him. Never been there. Sounds like an antisocial personality disorder though. "Sociopath" is the lay term. Some are worse than others. But IMHO, one of their biggest failures, universally, is lack of foresight. They are very hedonistic, in the moment. Under-reporting, illegal mg's, some of the conversations you guys describe (pathological lying intermixed with grains of truth). Firts the bill. They usually have a long history too but people don't realize how hard it is to pull a comprehensive civil and criminal background - fact of the matter is, its impossible. You can never know what someone's history truly is, especially when going into the civil side.

Completely incurable and untreatable, by the way. If you send an antisocial to counseling you just turn them into a better sociopath - better able to fit in. Prison might be a good place.

I hate Sociopaths/antisocial with a passion. Have a lot of experience in spotting them and combating the bullshit. I much prefer male sociopaths over females though. At least the general public recognizes what is wrong with the males. 9/10 LEO, courts, judges, attorneys, old men, etc. will fall for the bullshit from the female sociopaths. - Symptom number one: They are looking for your sympathy. Where males are more aggressive, females are more manipulative, and the older they get the more experience they have. An older, female sociopath is about one of your most experienced cons out there - and they will always slip through the cracks.

I wouldn't say that pulling a comprehensive criminal and civil background is impossible. The documentation is out there; it's just a matter of following the paper trail and having the legal basis for obtaining the information- and the funds and tenacity to get those records.
I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment of female sociopaths. For some reason, nobody ever suspects women until it's too late.

[WETWRKS]

I get that a business owner could have this going on, but supposedly his name is not on anything. Ok, this is fine too, no business, no income, no taxes. But now explain the house and the condos.

$ saved from previous years. Cashing out investments. Inheritance.

[TheGrey]

$ saved from previous years. Cashing out investments. Inheritance.

The latter two would require a declaration on taxes...

[rondog]

9/10 LEO, courts, judges, attorneys, old men, etc. will fall for the bullshit from the female sociopaths. - Symptom number one: They are looking for your sympathy. Where males are more aggressive, females are more manipulative, and the older they get the more experience they have. An older, female sociopath is about one of your most experienced cons out there

Do you know my wife?

[sneakerd]

Stopped by there today. Open for business, but much quieter than the last time I was there. Rich's truck was there, but no sign of him. Opened with an argument between a customer and the big counter dude, to be honest, the customer didn't understand why he couldn't order something or get on a list with some definite delivery date for whatever he wanted. Same kind of stuff I hear every day. Customer left in a huff. Same questions, Do you have any 9mm? "We just sold our last box of .40!" The older appraisal guy from the show was there, I eavesdropped on him helping several folks and he does seem pretty off-the-cuff knowledgeable. Cases filled with lots of NIB 3rd Gen Colt SAAs, almost as if someone brought in a collection or "someone" dipped into a safe to fill the showcase. Prices a little high, but not outrageous. fyi

[Aloha_Shooter]

The latter two would require a declaration on taxes...

Hence the IRS investigation but it's not outside the realm of possibility that he leveraged himself to the hilt to buy all that flashy garbage and really didn't have any income to speak of. I've known plenty of people who were literally living on their credit cards; heck the crash of 2007-2008 revealed tons of people that were living high on the hog but didn't have any real income if they paid their mortgages, loans, etc. Chances are that he's guilty of shady accounting; I'm just saying we shouldn't be passing sentence without knowing the real facts of the case -- keep your feelings about his crappy TV show, questionable business practices and hot-or-not (I'm in the "not" camp) daughter separate from whether or not he's a tax fraud based on his declared income versus flashy house and toys.

[TheGrey]

Hence the IRS investigation but it's not outside the realm of possibility that he leveraged himself to the hilt to buy all that flashy garbage and really didn't have any income to speak of. I've known plenty of people who were literally living on their credit cards; heck the crash of 2007-2008 revealed tons of people that were living high on the hog but didn't have any real income if they paid their mortgages, loans, etc. Chances are that he's guilty of shady accounting; I'm just saying we shouldn't be passing sentence without knowing the real facts of the case -- keep your feelings about his crappy TV show, questionable business practices and hot-or-not (I'm in the "not" camp) daughter separate from whether or not he's a tax fraud based on his declared income versus flashy house and toys.

Very, very true. I'm not a financial investigator, so I would have no idea what would be required.