Monday, January 20, 2014

SHOT Show: The Last Bastion of Growing Conservatism

With Ted Nugent at SHOT Show

Last week, I attended the largest gun and outdoors show in the world; the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show. The annual Las Vegas event is so huge that only those who work in the industry are allowed to attend. The show doesn't receive much mainstream news coverage because the left-wing media doesn't want the public to know how many patriotic Americans are in the gun industry. Attendance increases every year, with 67,000 attending this year. There were 1,600 exhibitors, and over 400 companies were waitlisted.

Conservatives have been losing ground in virtually every area in politics except the Second Amendment. Increasing violence and an expanding, more intrusive government have made Americans concerned about their safety. The Democrats' policies and values have resulted in generations of kids with behavioral problems, leading to more criminals as the kids become adults. The Obama administration's spying under the NSA, targeting of the Tea Party using the IRS and apparent stockpiling of ammunition have made more Americans afraid of their government.

Despite the tension between law-abiding Americans and our current government, law enforcement has a friendly and huge presence at SHOT Show, spanning hundreds of booths. While big city “desk chiefs” may not have a good relationship with the gun industry, since they are generally appointees of liberal Democratic mayors, virtually everyone else in law enforcement does. The only evidence of friction observed at SHOT Show took place at the BATF booth. A wisecracking attendee placed a Molon Labe bumper sticker over the BATF's sign. Molon Labe means “come and take,” allegedly said by King Leonidas I at the Battle of Thermopylae in response to the Persian army's demand that the Spartans turn over their weapons.

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