In Defense of SHOT Show

Jan 31, 2025
Photo: courtesy NSSF

Every year as we gear up for SHOT Show you see comments critical of SHOT. Not the “I don’t want to work SHOT Show” kind of dread that comes from longtime SHOT Show exhibiter staff that spend the entire show on their feet answering endless questions only to return home with the infamous ‘SHOT Show Crud.’

That’s just the regular trade show b*tching and moaning that comes from the ‘voluntold.’ And their comments aren’t critiques but good old regular griping.

The negative rhetoric I’m speaking of comes, generally, from people in the influencer class. The younger people who acquire media credentials and are frequently prone to overuse the term industry in order to somehow convince you they are, and have been, entrenched in the firearms industry.

Spoiler alert, the more you use the term industry in regular conversion the less likely you are to be seen as industry.

And criticizing SHOT doesn’t make you an industry insider or expert. You’re just that guy that wants people to think he’s insightful, despite having absolutely no experience even remotely close to planning and executing a trade show of any magnitude, let alone that of SHOT Show.

This kind of critique of SHOT is often accompanied by a near constant complaining about the lack of anything new at SHOT and, of course, the tired refrain of a ‘lack of true innovation.’

This is the low-hanging fruit of criticism. But, considering that those making this observation have never designed or manufactured a firearm in their life, it comes across as complaining for the sake of complaining.

Besides, NSSF put a two-day show up on the fifth floor at SHOT Show – the Supplier Showcase – where those who complain about SHOT Show’s lack of truly new products can find all the resources they need to bring their own, groundbreaking, game-changing firearm innovations to market at next year’s show…and prove to all of us how it’s done.

You could probably name your company Hudson Manufacturing. I believe that name is available.

Trashing SHOT Show is boorish behavior, especially when it comes from the cheap seats outside of the companies actually manufacturing and exhibiting at SHOT. Instead of solidifying your position as an industry insider, it confirms your outsider status.

The good news is, this approach might get you a job at a firearms company. I once had a phone interview with an exec whose title was something like ‘Chief Innovation Officer.’ At some point in the conversation he told me how backwards and behind the times the firearms marketing was.

For once I bit my tongue and powered through the urge to ask him to walk me through the innovative and game-changing way he was handling the firearm recall his company was promoting on their website. What a missed opportunity because I’m sure I could have learned a lot.

Here is what people who have yet to figure it out need to know about SHOT Show’s value to the overall industry.

It’s Where We Gather

SHOT Show is the one place where everybody is in the same place at the same time. Obviously, that’s not every single person employed in the industry, but it is by far the largest group brought together you’ll find.

Photo: courtesy NSSF

The closeness of this industry is due to shared values, goals and culture. That closeness comes from the relative small size of the industry when compared to other larger industries.

Nobody goes to SHOT without an excitement to see others we only see once a year. Walk the aisles at SHOT and you cannot miss the countless smiles, fist bumps, hugs and genuine joy exhibited by reunited friends.

Networking

SHOT Show is the networking event of the year. With everybody in the same place at the same time, companies take advantage of this to meet with marketing agencies, sales rep groups, and potential future employees.

And it is also where you go when you are looking for a job. A good friend reminded me of this when he told me how once, after being unceremoniously ‘let go’ by a company, he landed a new job on the first day of SHOT.

SHOT Show is a giant pool of talent from which small to large companies draw from, making it the unofficial ‘Jobs Fair’ of the shooting, hunting and outdoor trade.

There is another really important part of SHOT that NSSF’s Bill Brassard pointed out to me. Unlike a lot of other industries, SHOT Show is an event where junior and mid level employees at exhibiting companies can immerse themselves in the industry.

You can’t do that in other industries, and certainly not meet and interface with top level and C-suite executives like you can at SHOT Show.

Engineers Gathering Intel

What is often overlooked about SHOT Show is the amount of behind-the-scenes business being done. A lot of that being done by engineers who fly in for a day or two to shop the Supplier Showcase and meet with current and future OEM partners.

Photo: P. Erhardt

Additionally, when a company brings out a new product you can let your marketing guys go check it out, or your sponsored shooters. But honestly, you want the engineers looking. Experienced firearms design engineers can spot strengths, and weaknesses, of a design in short order.

And it’s at SHOT Show that every new product is out on display. If you know what to look for, like a good engineer does, you can learn a lot about the design decisions, materials, and in some cases the vendors used to bring that new product to market.

Education

NSSF launched SHOT University several years ago. It is not new but it is a critical continuing education program for retailers. With programs like, Guide to Maximizing Sales with Suppressors, What Can Adding a Credentialed Gunsmith Bring to Your Business, Breaking Through Barriers: Digital Marketing Strategies for the Firearm Industry, and more, NSSF is helping retails improve their businesses.

Photo: courtesy NSSF

The one seminar I attended was the New Efforts in the Industry’s Fight to Reduce Suicide. Partnering with those from the Department of Veterans Affairs, the American Legion, and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, NSSF is working to educate FFL and shooting range staff and customers on how to prevent suicide.

This focus on suicide prevention is an underrated initiative of NSSF’s, and deserves a lot more attention.

Working Media

Having worked at NSSF, and run the media room at SHOT, I can tell you that today’s media room is on a whole other level than that of 20 years ago. Once, those with media credentials sat around the big tables eating and drinking the free food and swapping stories, seemingly rarely visiting the show floor, and definitely not ‘working.’

Photo: courtesy NSSF

At this year’s show it seemed that more media members were doing actual work than socializing. I found myself spending more time in the media room writing features for our SHOT Show Special Editions than walking the floor.

Often that time was spent sitting across from the video crew from Blade HQ who were feverishly editing the videos they had just shot. I’m not sure who needs to hear this, but boy were they busting their collective asses to cover SHOT.

And they weren’t the only ones. There is a long string of tables partitioned off from the eating, drinking and socializing section of the room. That partitioned area is all work, and it’s getting more and more crowded each year.

This is another underrated aspect of NSSF’s efforts to constantly improve SHOT Show for its exhibitors, members, and, of course, the attending media.

SHOT Show Has Great Value

Criticism for clicks aside, SHOT Show is an important part of our business community. It is a lot of work, and it certainly costs a lot to participate, but for most people and companies it has an outsized impact that can’t be replaced – at least not easily so – by participating in small, tiny by comparison shows.

Photo: courtesy NSSF

No matter how aggressively an event markets itself as a ‘mini SHOT Show’ it is not even close to being like SHOT. And while it costs a lot less, it also draws a lot less buyers, dealers, media, and exhibitors.

There is nothing wrong, at all, with small consumer events. Something like CANCON comes to mind. They can be great events, and provide value, but they do not replace what SHOT Show can offer. From a marketing perspective they can augment attending larger shows, especially if they provide direct-to-consumer exposure.

But, they’re still not SHOT. There’s a reason people proudly announce the number of SHOT Shows they’ve attended. 2001, the last year SHOT was in New Orleans, was my first time attending SHOT, and I can’t imagine a time when I won’t attend SHOT.

– Paul Erhardt, Managing Editor, the Outdoor Wire Digital Network