In spite of recession, gun business taking off(2011 SHOT Show in Vegas)

[RamboLiberal]

The gun business is surging, both nationally and in Nevada, evidenced by the more than 55,000 industry types who attended the National Shooting Sports Foundation trade show at the Sands Expo & Convention Center this week.

The robust firearms economy is showing striking defiance of the recession, as well as the ritual condemnations of gun violence in the wake of the recent shooting of 19 people, including a congresswoman, in Tucson.

Just as the recent electronics trade show gave the world tablet computers, so too did the Shooting, Hunting & Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show give us the latest in shooting products.

Smith & Wesson’s Governor revolver allows for three types of ammunition at the same time. The sleek M&P 15 Sport Rifle will retail for $709. European scopes and custom gun parts from a Tucson machinist can improve upon an ordinary gun. Liberty gun safes, which are the size of a human, will keep your pieces safe. The Heckler & Koch .40-mm grenade machine gun is imposing, although not for home protection.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/jan/20/guns-shoot-popularity/


(Steve Marcus) David Kohnow, of Long Range Accuracy, looks over a Heckler & Koch automatic grenade launcher during the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s 33rd annual Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show at the Sands Expo & Convention Center on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

1. Must. Not. Make. Penis. Size. Joke.

Must.

Not.

[Glassunion]

8. HA +1

[ProgressiveProfessor]

2. Trade shows are always fun. I wonder what they were giving away as SWAG

[DonP]

3. Sadly only key chains and coffee cups - sigh.

I went to a couple of SHOT shows. I got a nice gold trimmed coffee cup from Galco, a travel cup from H&K, a mess of keychains and the like. No .50 cal door prizes I'm afraid. Oh and no one was shot either.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

7. I attended SOFIC once. They have some awesome SWAG

[Katya Mullethov]

15. SEMA

Just hold out the bag , and NO eye contact !

[davepc]

4. I went last year. Lots of knick-knacks.

The military contractors in the basement had some serious hardware out for display, but no good hand outs.

[Tippy]

5. No suprise.....everytime some thing like the AZ shootings happen

Gun/ammo sales go way up..every where...I have often wondered how much the NRA/gun dealers profit from these tragedies.

[badtoworse]

6. There is a good reason for that...

Everytime something like this happens, the likes of Carolyn McCarthy and Frank Lautenberg try to pass ridiculous gun control legislation that would not survive objective scrutiny in a less emotional environment

[spin]

11. And by pushing the "feel good" legislation, they cause more gun sales ...

foolish politicians love useless legislation.

Unfortunately, our party often suffers from the results at the voting booth of their enthusiasm.

[badtoworse]

12. ...you forgot to mention the effect on the price of ammunition.

[TheWraith]

9. The NRA doesn't profit at all.

Despite what some people will tell you, their budget comes from their members' dues, not from firearms manufacturers.

[Tippy]

38. And almost every Gun Dealer is a card carring NRA Member

My ex owns two shops/stores....

[DonP]

10. The SHOT show is an annual event scheduled years in advance

It's just a trade show for Class 01 and other FFLs basically, never open to the public. They schedule the show several years ahead, just like the NRA Annual meeting.

But it's not the actual shooting that drives the sales. It's the loudmouths after the fact that we've been seeing all week. The same people that keep telling us that no one wants to ban your guns. They usually post right above a thread where some one is demanding that we ban some guns or magazines.

If anyone "profits from these tragedies" it's the unexpected consequence of people demanding gun bans, magazine bans or other restrictions to add to the 22,000 gun laws already on the books. Then they act shocked and surprised when gun, magazine, ammo etc. sales go up.

But since the NRA only sells their own trinkets and derives all of its income from membership dues from individuals, they probably only get new members dues to show for it. The so called assault weapons ban that some are demanding be re-passed, drove membership from around 2 million to over 4.5 million. At $40 each, that's a lot of income, not even counting the life and endowment members.

You want to sell something? A car that's "too fast" or a video game that's "too violent"? Get people to demand that it be "banned" or severely restricted and watch it fly off the shelves and out of the showroom.

[RamboLiberal]

14. I'm looking forward to the NRA convention this spring in Pittsburgh

That one is open to NRA members & the public. It's not something I'd travel to attend, but since it will be in my hometown I'm really looking forward to attending.

They had one a few years ago here and it was fun to take an afternoon and visit all the gun & accessories booths.

And always fun to pick up the literature, stickers & a few free trinkets.

I won't go to the dinner though, afraid the speakers would make me want to puke. I think last time they were here Cheney was a featured speaker.

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[RamboLiberal]

23. Kind of a shame that this is the type of people who have to

protect us from the "gun grabbers".

Again it is a matter of both sides being on the extreme.

If I was a one issue voter I'd be voting Republican.

[X_Digger]

25. And stereotyping! Going for the hattrick? n/t

[DonP]

27. Well, after all, there are 4.5 million of them ...

... and not enough committed gun control people to even fill a small school bus.

And every year the "factose intolerant" gun control group gets smaller and smaller.

[RamboLiberal]

30. Look at it to as research of the political climate

[Atypical Liberal]

24. You'll note, though...

You'll note it's not the tragedies that cause the surge in sales - it's the fear of a backlash of anti-firearm legislation that drives sales.

Ask any gun dealer and they'll tell you, "President Obama has been the best thing for firearm sales ever!"

[Katya Mullethov]

13. The same story after translating into The Queen's English .

You have to go and look at the photos to appreciate the epic level of fail they had to summon for this piece .

////



What are you meant to hunt with THAT? Giant killing machine is star attraction at shooting sports convention


It is less than a fortnight since six people were killed and Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords terribly injured in a shooting spree in Arizona. But the Tucson massacre has done nothing to deter the 16,000 expected to attend the 33rd National Shooting Sports Foundation's Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade convention in Las Vegas.

The annual event (which goes by the all-too-accurate acronym SHOT) is taking place at the 630,000 sq ft Venetian Hotel and Casino.Among the wares on offer is this extraordinarily large Heckler & Koch many visitors were eyeing with some excitement.

//
Barbara Heetderks of Dallas elbowed her way through a throng of arms dealers, shooting range owners, military buyers and law enforcement officers in search of the perfect ammunition for 'Maya', 'Joe' and the other 40 rifles and pistols that make up her personal gun collection.

'It's packed in here,' observed Heetderks of the crowd at the SHOT mega-show.

She was clad in a shirt emblazoned with the flag of Texas and a broach that read, 'I'm the NRA (National Rifle Association ) and I vote.'

Representative Carolyn McCarthy, a New York Democrat, introduced legislation in Washington yesterday that seeks to ban large capacity ammunition magazines like those recovered at the Arizona crime scene.

Her husband was killed and her son seriously wounded in a 1993 shooting on the Long Island railroad.
//
etc



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1348512/Vegas-gun-fair--supposed-hunt-that.html#ixzz1Bbpa45Ch

[Katya Mullethov]

16. More SHOT fail from the press

Funnier ? You be the judge .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-XI9Bei-2w

[onehandle]

18. Fear and paranoia is always good business.

It's what got us a Republican House.

[shadowrider]

19. And stands like your will get them the Senate and the WH too n/t

[HankyDubs]

21. so we should support

a wrong position because of political expedience? Wow.

[DonP]

28. No, because it's correct

According to every credible law school professor in the country.

But what the fuck do they all know, it's not like they are Rachel Maddow or somebody else that has perfect constitutional insights.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

20. Did you guys see the Kel-Tec KSG??? ... AWESOME!!!

Unbelievable! 14+1 round shotgun. I will be buying one the moment they come out.
I've been wanting a Saiga Tromix 12ga... but I like this one better.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[PavePusher]

26. You're so right!

I'm not 8 feet tall and able to shoot lightning bolts from my ass.

So I compensate. :eyes:

[Katya Mullethov]

29. 410 mare's legs and weed whacker shotguns .

Still no word on the Pietta Le Matcarbines . I guess they died on the vine .

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

34. Seeing as nobody has a 15 round capacity pump action shotgun...

I guess it's not odd that I don;t have one either!

[oneshooter]

36. Wrong! Kel-tec is showing a 15 shot pump at the SHOT Show!!

http://www.americanrifleman.org/blogs/kel-tec-ksg/

http://thetruthaboutguns.com/2011/01/robert-farago/gun-shotgun-ksg-kel-tec-kel-tec-ksg-the-truth-about-guns/

Oneshooter
Armed and Livin in Texas

[mvccd1000]

37. Just what you need to compensate...

What do the gun control advocates need to compensate for the decided lack of facts in their arguments?

[DonP]

32. Wait'll the guys at the trap club see me with that!

15 rounds of #9 - that clay pigeon is so dead!

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

35. Oh I know... the fudds' heads are going to explode.

Maybe if I wear an Obama T-shirt while holding this... :hide:

[RamboLiberal]

31. NYTimes: In an Ocean of Firearms, Tucson Is Far Away

-----

“To my mind,” Mr. Keane added, “gun control is a failed social experiment, and it is time to move on.”

Mr. Keane offered that view as 57,000 people, an overflow crowd, turned out for the 50th anniversary of the convention, which spilled out of the Sands Convention Center and into the adjacent Venetian hotel. Throughout the day, the lively crowd —overwhelmingly male, representing gun shops, the military and law enforcement agencies — traipsed through fields of booths that displayed, among other things, rifles, ammunition, silencers, camouflage gear, knives, bulletproof vests, night goggles, holsters and, of course, pistols, including in pink and lavender.

People attending the show were explicitly barred from carrying personal firearms or ammunition.

The Tucson shootings complicated plans for the Shot Show. Sponsors said they had decided after the shootings not to get drawn into debates about gun control until they arrived here to an event that drew 2,200 members of the news media. Still, they said, there was never any doubt that the Shot Show would go on.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/20/us/20guns.html

[DonP]

33. I prefer American Rifleman for my Broadway show reviews

and the NY Times and NEJM for reports on firearm industry shows.