SHOT SHOW

**MarkCO** · 01-17-2016, 18:58

The normal gun show junkie crowd is there, sans shower, crowding the aisles, grabbing handfuls of free stuff, trying to get selfies, increasing the biomass. The manufacturers, trying to sell to dealers and distributors endure. OTOH, there are always one or two new things that catch my interest, and I get to see a lot of friends for the first time in 4 or 5 months.

The Great American and NRA shows really are better for the firearms enthusiast.

**wyome** · 01-17-2016, 19:12

Is shot open to the public? Or just industry reps

**Jer** · 01-17-2016, 19:23

Originally Posted by wyome

Is shot open to the public? Or just industry reps

Industry partners only. No general admission.

**MarkCO** · 01-17-2016, 21:36

Manufacturers, dealers, distributors, media, ranges, and those who provide good and services to such.

**Great-Kazoo** · 01-18-2016, 01:10

Originally Posted by MarkCO

Manufacturers, dealers, distributors, media, ranges, and those who provide good and services to such.

OR.... Have the secret hand shake

**APEXgunparts** · 01-17-2016, 22:48

Originally Posted by Buff

Anyone going to SHOT SHOW next week?

I fly out WAY TOO EARLY on Monday morning!
I am traveling with the owner and our inventory control specialist.
We have appointments all thru the week starting 0930 on Tuesday.
FAIR Trade has a meeting with ATF HQ staff at 3Pm on Wednesday, THAT should be interesting!
If you are a FAIR Trade member I encourage you to attend.

Richard

**JohnnyEgo** · 01-18-2016, 10:28

Way back when (2004-2008ish) when I was a gun shop flunkie, SHOT Show used to be part of our yearly circuit, along with the big shows by AmChar and Sports South. AmChar, by the way, has the shittiest t-shirts. And you accumulate a lot of t-shirts between the three, by which to judge. There are many folks who go to Shot Show for many reasons. We were a small retail gun shop that could only afford to send two employees, one of whom (me) already had another job that paid the bills and enough hotel points to keep us from staying in the Motel 3. So from our small retail perspective, day 1 was always about visiting our major distributors, of which RSR was most prominent for us, and trying to get in on as many good SHOT Show dealer packages as our stingy owner was willing to either front the money for or accept the terms. Day 2 was usually visiting the myriad of large and small accessory dealers, trying to figure out what was going to be cool or a big seller for next year (my friend's specialty) or what would be a very good deal or profitable for the shop. We'd also spend the day accruing trips to the media junkets, as well as invites to the industry parties, which is why I have so many Surefire flashlights. For us small timers, this was a business function first, and a chance to oogle cool stuff second.

Where I shined was the last day, when folks would be leaving and the booths would begin to be taken down. Everyone was tired, hung over, and infected with Shot Show crud, which made their defenses weak. My friend and I would cruise some of the key booths and just talk to people, a lot. In this way, we were able to form relationships and pull interesting products into our small shop, which meant a lot in our competitive market. One year, the Vltor VIS was the hot new thing, and they just announced the mid-length version at Shot. I was able to talk my way into acquiring two of their floor samples for our shop before they were released to the general public. We were able to drive a lot of interest to our shop with those, so it was a good investment in sending us.

In between all of this, you had all the things you get whenever you accrue a large number of people with similar interests into a confined area. These include con-funk, of both the olfactory and infectious varieties, the struggle to find edible non-fried food without having to wait forever during the lunch rush, and the giant clashes of ego and petty dramas of which you could find on any reality TV show. Oh, and one year I volunteered to be Tasered by a Playboy Bunny. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

It was a very cool chapter of my life, and I often looked forward to attending SHOT. However, five times were enough for me, and after the 2008 show in Orlando, I never went back, although I still receive an invitation to register every year. Definitely a cool thing to experience once or twice, though, particularly if you don't have to worry about running a small business.