The show is a few days long; its impact is year-round
When more than 60,000 industry members converge on Las Vegas and, more specifically, the Sands Expo and Convention Center, in January for the SHOT Show, they will gain the immediate benefits of the grandest show for the shooting, hunting, and outdoor trade.
Many other benefits, however, result from SHOT Show revenue. Much of the funding that propels the National Shooting Sports Foundation, owner and sponsor of SHOT, to fulfill its mission comes from the SHOT Show. “Promote, protect, and preserve hunting and the shooting sports” is the mission of the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting, and shooting sports industry, and NSSF invests in hunting and the shooting sports to do just that.
Participation in the SHOT Show generates as much as 80 percent of the funding for NSSF programs. One such effort is a proactive government relations program to guard your rights and business interests. Today, for example, NSSF continues its multifaceted campaigns against legislation that would enact microstamping, ballistics imaging, and limitations and outright bans on traditional ammunition. One visible result of its efforts this year was New York’s deactivation of its costly ballistics imaging program, which never contributed to the solving of even one crime.
In addition, NSSF invests SHOT Show revenue in customer-recruitment campaigns, such as Families Afield and First Shots. The former has actively remedied legislative barriers preventing family hunting participation, and the latter has offered newcomers the opportunity to learn firearms and firearms ownership fundamentals at member ranges, while actually experiencing the fun of shooting under the careful supervision of qualified instructors.
Other NSSF investments of SHOT Show revenue in hunting and the shooting sports’ future come in the form of the Hunting Heritage Partnership (HHP) Grant program, the Range Partnership Grant program, the Collegiate Shooting Sports Initiative (CSSI), and the Boy Scouts of America Challenge Grant program. HHP awards grants to state and regional wildlife management agencies to create hunter access and opportunity. The Range Partnership Grant program funds new marketing approaches to put more shooters on the firing line at shooting facilities. CSSI helps strengthen existing collegiate varsity and club shooting programs, and it aids in the founding of new ones. The Boy Scouts of America Challenge Grant program funds and equips BSA Councils with shooting equipment while directing their spending to NSSF member retailers.
In the long run, the entire hunting and sport shooting industry benefits from the revenue produced at the SHOT Show, and the greatest beneficiaries are the members of NSSF.
NSSF’s government relations actions led to the passage of legislation that preempted the frivolous lawsuits that nearly crippled the industry. The law allows the manufacturing industry to concentrate its resources on constructive research and development, rather than on unwarranted legal defense. NSSF’s successful efforts on behalf of firearms and ammunition manufacturers to gain uniformity with other industries in the schedule of Pittman- Robertson excise payments alleviated much paperwork and debt, freeing manpower and money for further R&D.
First Shots has demonstrated that participants come back to the introductory range to shoot and to make purchases. The Boy Scouts grants can be used only at NSSF member retailers’ businesses.
NSSF research gathers information, including customized market surveys, that help businesses better understand industrywide trends as well as local demographics. At SHOT Show, formal educational opportunities present themselves through SHOT Show University and Retailer Seminars. Throughout the year, in different parts of the country, Retailer Education Seminars give FFLs a better understanding of ATF compliance requirements. Planned meetings, like the Indoor Range and Retail Development Workshop held in St. Louis this past year, give start-up businesses a practical education.
These many activities of NSSF are only a sampling of the programs that are funded, in great part, by the revenue generated at the SHOT Show, a four-day event in January that’s success is felt throughout the year.