This month, the owners of H & H Guns on Warrenton’s Main Street are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their store. The business got its start April 1, 2000.

It doesn’t seem like it’s been such a long time when you’re doing something you enjoy, said Mark Hale, who co-owns the store with his wife, Jane.

“When it hits you is when somebody brings their kid in, and (that person’s) dad brought them in as a kid,” Mark commented.

He was sitting at the end of a long display case, with firearms lining the wall on one side, and various items and memorabilia all along the other. A pot of coffee for customers is kept on at the back of the shop.

The gun shop got its start after Mark left his career in the movie industry. Mark worked in a variety of stunt and production roles, and keeps a framed magazine clipping as a reminder of his work in the movie “The Patriot.”

But traveling for films kept Mark away from Jane and their two sons, Blake and Josh. Mark left the industry and rejoined his family full-time in Warren County, where Jane worked for the R-III School District.

Mark was looking for work when a buddy asked him to track down a bolt-action shotgun to purchase. After an encounter with a rude pawn shop owner, Mark decided to open his own shop, where customers would be welcomed as friends. Jane, and eventually Blake and Josh, joined in the new business.

Over the 20 years since, H & H has built up a group of regular customers who the Hales view as friends and family. A sign reading “Enter as strangers, leave as friends,” was gifted to them, and hangs over the end of the display case. Groups of people regularly meet at the shop just to socialize.

“It’s not the four walls, it’s the people that come in that makes it all really happen,” Mark commented. Running the store is a lot of work, but he said when you love what you’re doing and get to share your enthusiasm with others, you don’t even notice the hours.

Customer Jim O’Donnell said the Hales and other H & H regulars really have been like family to him since he first came to the store over 15 years ago. Photos of joint family hunting and fishing outings adorned a section of the wall in the shop.

O’Donnell and other customers come in several times a week to see what the shop has in, but also to talk about hunting, military stories, or just life in general.

“My two granddaughters love Jane and Mark,” O’Donnell said. “They’ve got coloring books for my granddaughters. They give them Christmas presents.”

Those kinds of family experiences are part of what Jane said makes doing all the less-than-interesting paperwork for the business worthwhile.

“It’s neat watching the kids grow up,” Jane said. “A lot of people, when they have babies, they stop here before they go home. I love having baby time.”

Despite the many happy years, H & H Guns almost disappeared forever when a fire destroyed the store’s original location on the South Outer Road in 2008. All the store’s merchandise and movie memorabilia were gone in one devastating moment. Insurance didn’t pay for much of what was lost.

Restarting the business took a lot of time, paperwork and a deep dip into the Hales’ savings. But looking back, Mark described the decision to keep going as being pretty simple.

“People started calling, saying ‘When are you going to re-open?’” he recalled. “I was just like, ‘Well, I guess we’re going to re-open.”

Four months later, the Hales were back in business. They threw a Christmas party to celebrate the opening of their new shop on Main Street.

They had been planning another special party to celebrate the store’s 20th year. Coronavirus has put those plans on hold, for now.

“The year’s not over yet,” Jane said.