SHOT Show Day One - First Impressions

Day One of SHOT Show is over and Day Two is about to begin.

It was different than what I expected but certainly not disappointing.  I think I expected the exhibition area to be like the NRA Annual Meeting but on steroids. It wasn't. Unlike a show in a large arena type setting, the Sands Convention Center has almost a cozy feel to it. It wasn't held in two gigantic  rooms but in a series of smaller (but still large) rooms separated by hallways.

The highlight of the day was not a new product. It was a documentary put together by the Outdoor Channel called "Safe Havens". Produced by Tim Cremins and hosted by journalist Katie Pavlich, it explored the fallacy of gun-free zones. It captured both the emotions and facts behind the so-called gun free zones and their failures. Experts such as Massad Ayoob and Prof. Eric Deitz of Perdue University were featured as were victims such as Amanda Collins who was raped on campus.

The film will be shown on the Outdoor Channel without commercial sponsors. Jim Libratore, president of the Outdoor Channel, said he didn't want anything to be used to muddy the message. For more impressions of the film, listen to our discussion of it on the Polite Society Podcast which we recorded yesterday soon after viewing it.

I didn't devote a lot of time to checking out all the new products. I did see the new optic from Leupold called the D-evo and it looks intriguing. I will also be getting a Ergo Grip's Delta Grip for the Ruger LCR for review. I'm looking forward to tha.

I am still working on the list of items that you submitted. For reader Ronald, I do have an answer from Robinson Armament regarding the 6.5 Grendel. They have done chamber drawings and gotten the reamer for that caliber in their XCR. They did say that they haven't had too much demand for that caliber.