The focus of this feature is gear displayed at the SHOT Show that would appeal to the military, police, private security or lawfully armed citizen in regards to armed self defense. This doesn't include all the black-nylon-with-hook & loop-closure types of things, but some of that stuff was in evidence.

If you've not been to a SHOT Show in some years, culture shock would strike -- the defense/concealed carry/mil-LE-security element of the industry has become the "dog" while more traditional elements, like hunting, have become the "tail." There are many companies and products, some of which are likely quite good, that aren't covered - the show was simply too immense (and far too spread out) for the time allowed to say nothing whatever about the space we have to showcase products. Let it suffice to say a good many top tier manufacturers were here.

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Were there AR-type rifles and AK-clones? Yes. The same with large pistols. A good amount of what we saw was geared more to the concealed carry market, an increasing segment of the industry. Apparently, the industry hadn't gotten the word that the modern sporting rifle was evil. As you look through this far-less-than-complete list, remember we were competing with around 50,000 people for the exhibitors' time.

EOTech XPS2-300 - This holographic sight features a custom reticle that allows you to shoot Blackout or Whisper ammunition in either subsonic or supersonic using the short and medium range points of impact for either supersonic or subsonic ammunition.

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Colt Marine Close Quarter Battle Pistol - This Colt Rail Gun has been customized like the Colt USMC pistol -- a Cerakote finished stainless steel frame and slide rendered in Desert Tan. Novak Night Sights are fitted to the slide, a flat mainspring housing with lanyard loop, ambidextrous safety and National Match barrel round out the modifications to this pistol.

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Springfield Armory XD/s 3.3 Single Stack 9mm - This 9mm is a 7 + 1 concealed carry piece with a 3.3" barrel, fiber optic front sight and a polymer frame. Extremely flat, it's a little over six inches in overall length, less than 4 1/2" high and weighs in a 23 ounces. Shipped with a pair of magazines, holster and mag pouch, we fired this at Media Day. It's extremely comfortable to shoot.

S&W M&P10 - Here we have an AR format 7.62 x 51mm rifle with 18" barrel, a 1:10" 5R rifling twist, an 18" barrel and ambidextrous controls. Shipping with a five-round magazine, the M&P10 weighs in at just over 8 pounds.

Federal American Eagle Ammunition - Federal American Eagle is now available in 6.8 SPC and 5.7x28mm. The 6.8 round is a 115 grain FMJ load and the 5.7 features a 40 grain FMJ bullet.

Glock 20 Gen4 - In addition to the Glock 30S - the 10-round slim-slide compact .45, the Gen 4 version of the grand Glock 20 is now in production. Still a 15-round 10mm, capable of handling a diet of full-power 10mm ammo, the new gun has the ergonomic improvements.

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Spyderco Manix2 Black Folder - The Manix2 Lightweight has a fiberglass-reinforced co-polymer (FRCP) handle material and a flat-ground CTS BD1 stainless steel blade. Its 14mm "Trademark Round Hole" is the classic one-handed opening method and has the Spyderco patented Ball Bearing Lock. The Manix2 has a reversible wire clip that can be configured for left or right-side tip-up carry.

After our Monday holiday, we'll be highlighting some Editor's Choices for notable gear in various categories. Some of those items will be displayed in features as the year progresses. The SHOT Show was extremely busy and attendees were understandably concerned about the state of our civil rights. The Foggy Bottom Two-Step was in full swing while the people of the outdoors industry were busy trying to prepare for an uncertain year. Manufacturers seemed to have some interest in citizen involvement in the legislative process.

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Ruger facilitated the ability of attendees to make their voices heard via computer kiosks set up for anyone to walk up, fill out the electronic form and have that form sent to federal officials: both executive branch and members of Congress from the appropriate districts/states. For anyone not at the SHOT Show, you have only to go to the Ruger website and pull up the same form people used here. Go to the Ruger "PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS!" effort (http://www.ruger.com/protectyourrights/>protect your rights).

Regardless of the outcome of this political situation, we'll keep you posted.