[AuntiePam]

This is from another message board -- not my question, but now I'm curious too.

Here's all we know:

1) it's a short story
2) it turned up in one of those sci fi or fantasy collections of the 40's
3) it has a man going into a shop where he finds shelves of strange objects, metal, and referred to by the author as doodads or doohickies or some such, he selects one which turns out to be a gun.

We initially thought it was a Bradbury story, but everyone has looked all through their Bradbury collections, and nothing comes up.

Thanks for any help!

[fortytwo]

My only suggestion would be Robert Sheckley. Not because I know the story but I seem to remember a collection of his called Store of Infinity and that popped into my mind when I read your question.

[AuntiePam]

Thanks. This looks promising -- here are the story titles from that collection, seems like either Store or Gun might be the one. :)

The Prize of Peril
The Humours
Triplication
The Minimum Man
If the Red Slayer
The Store of the Worlds
The Gun Without a Bang
The Deaths of Ben Baxter

[emohawk]

Also sounds like The Weapons Shop by A. E. van Vogt. It was written in the 40s and is pretty famous. It's been collected quite a few times - it's even in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame anthology if my memory serves.