J.D. Tanner, owner of Tanner Gun Show, a company that stages huge gun shows at the Denver Merchandise Mart, died Sunday at his home in Black Hawk. He was 80.
Services for Tanner will be at 1 p.m. Friday at the Darrell Howe Mortuary in Lafayette. Tanner had been in ill health for some time. His burial will be later in McNeal, Ariz.
Tanner’s company, which he started more than 30 years ago, will continue under the leadership of Carol Blodgett, who has been show manager of the company since 1984, according to Veralyn Adams, Tanner’s niece.
It was at a Tanner show that all four of the guns used in the Columbine High School shootings were purchased. The shooters, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, had a friend, Robyn Anderson, buy three guns at a Tanner show in December 1998, months before the shootings in April 1999. They accompanied her to the show, but had her buy the guns because she was 18 and they were 17 at the time.
The fourth gun, an assault weapon, came from a Tanner show, but was owned by others before finally being bought by Klebold and Harris.
A lawsuit against Tanner filed by the parents of Patrick Ireland, who was wounded in the shootings, was later dismissed by a federal judge.
Tanner, whose company will stage nine shows this year, started out as a gunsmith, his niece said.
Though not the largest gun show in the country, Tanner’s shows usually had from 500 to 550 tables of guns on display, Blodgett said.
The gun shows also include sales of knives, military paraphernalia, jewelry and framed prints.
Tanner collected guns, many of them antiques, and fiddles, of which he had about 100, Blodgett said. Tanner played the fiddle but wasn’t accomplished, Adams said.
“But he sure tried,” she said.
Tanner loved to go to fiddling events – including ones that were several days long.
Adams described her uncle as “generous and kind-hearted” and said he loved the outdoors. He was an avid hunter.
Usually dressed in plaid shirts and Western-style trousers, Tanner liked American history and genealogy.
James Dale Tanner was born in Elfrida, Ariz., on June 23, 1927, and graduated from Tucson High School. He was in the Army and served in Korea.
In addition to his niece, he is survived by his daughter, Denise Withrow, his son, Guy Tanner, and his brother, Fred Turner, all of Tucson; two grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.
Staff writer Virginia Culver can be reached at vculver@denverpost.com or 303-954-1223.
