SOLD-OUT 2002 SHOT SHOW ALSO POSTS NEAR-RECORD ATTENDANCE

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SOLD-OUT 2002 SHOT SHOW ALSO POSTSNEAR-RECORD ATTENDANCELAS VEGAS _ Four days of strong sales plus near-record attendance and an extraordinary display of industry unity highlighted the 2002 SHOT Show _ the second best attended show in its 24-year history.Unusually high final-day registration lifted buyer attendance to within 200 of the all-time record."I have never seen anything like this! Ten minutes after the show opened our booth was so crowded you couldn't see through it, " said Dwight Van Brunt of Kimber. Such enthusiastic responses were widespread at the show, which ran February 2-5 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. "This SHOT Show has been tremendous. We are writing orders and our dealers are very enthusiastic about this year," said Margaret Hornady, of Hornady Manufacturing."The floor traffic is phenomenal . . . an all-time high for us, and dealers have increased orders above levels we had projected," said Bob Behn, president of Marlin Firearms."This industry is healthy, alive and well," said Bob Morrison, COO of Taurus, who was presented the SHOT Business Man of the Year Award on the first night of the show."Our reps called on every one of our accounts two months ago but we have still written millions in new business here at the show. This is absolutely unprecedented for our company," said a vice president of sales for a major firearms manufacturer.Added Ron Coburn, CEO of Savage Arms, "This is the best SHOT Show I can remember."Exhibition space was sold out for the first time in the show's history, with more than 1,400 exhibitors occupying a record 495,000 net square feet. The most welcome surprise for show organizers was the near-record attendance. At a time when other industry's trade show attendance has been below historic levels, the SHOT Show bucked the trend, attracting the second highest turnout ever.Final figures show that 18,549 buyers attended the show, just 200 shy of the record-setting 18,743 that came to Las Vegas in 1997. Attendance was significantly higher than both the 2000 Las Vegas show and the 2001 New Orleans show that was attended by 13,000 buyers. Overall 2002 attendance was 31,038, which includes 11,184 exhibitors and 1,305 media personnel.International visitors totaled 1,469 buyers and nearly 100 media. "Attendance by foreign journalists was particularly strong this year, with representatives coming from most European countries and others from South America and Japan," said Bill Brassard, editorial director for the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) and the show's press room manager.Buyer ResponseRetailers packed the aisles and were ecstatic about the show. "This is our first year here, and the SHOT Show has provided us with the most effective sales tools. We'll be back next year," said Carl Sjoup of Dodge City Gun Shop.Among the many exhibitors of accessories and services, Bob Chiarello of the Joseph Chiarello & Co. insurance firm, said, "This has been the best SHOT Show I've experienced. We set a record in the number of serious visitors to our booth. For us, it's the best venue to reach the shooting sports retailer."The mood at the show was upbeat and all-business. "I'm sensing there is a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and focus in the industry to maximize our time in order to directly increase our selling power," said Miles Hall, of H&H Gun Range.State of the IndustryAt the State of Industry Meeting on opening day of the Show, an audience of more than 1,000 industry professionals received an encouraging update about industry's legal victories in the municipal lawsuits and the significant increase in participation in the Hunting and Shooting Sports Heritage Fund. The latter, formed just three years ago, now has 134 companies that have pledged a percentage of their sales to underwrite legal defense of the politically motivated municipal suits and communications efforts designed to reaffirm industry's rightful, responsible image. Eight new Heritage Fund participants pledged their support at the Show. "As a result of the focused efforts of the Hunting and Shooting Sports Heritage Foundation, we have all benefited and in turn passed along the benefits to our customers," said Morrison.The State of the Industry meeting showcased the unity and key partnerships that have been hallmarks of the industry since the municipal lawsuits began in 1999. "What a difference three years make," said Bob Delfay, president and CEO of the NSSF. "The programs, the policies and the partnerships that we have all put in place to increase public understanding of what we do are working. Well-planned and well-funded strategies to welcome new participants, new customers and new supporters to our hunting and shooting sports traditions are working. And the systems and strategies we have set in place to fight politically motivated lawsuits and legislative attacks on our businesses are working extremely well."At the meeting, Budweiser presented a $100,000 check to the Heritage Fund, reaffirming its long-time commitment to the shooting sports. In addition, Budweiser presented its Outdoorsman of the Year Award to Dr. Tom Thompson and its Outdoors Writers Challenge Award to Diane Rupp of Wing & Shot.Rod Forth, vice president of government affairs for Anheuser-Busch, was keynote speaker for the evening, and he recognized the decision-makers in the audience for voluntarily taking the lead in promoting the responsible use of industry's products to the public, and he lauded programs like NSSF's Project HomeSafe and Don't Lie for the Other Guy that do exactly that.Delfay presented a new Heritage Foundation's "Noblest Sport Award" to Steve Hornady for his initiative, commitment and leadership as founding chairman of the Hunting and Shooting Sports Heritage Foundation, and another to National Rifle Association/Institute for Legislative Action in recognition and grateful appreciation of an exemplary defense of firearms freedoms through the passage, in a majority of states, of historic legislation barring reckless litigation against the firearms industry.For retailers, the SHOT Show always offers professional development opportunities. In addition to the show seminars given by representatives of FBI/NICS and ATF, retailers could attend the inaugural SHOT Show University. More than 150 took advantage of the university's workshops ranging from an introduction to marketing databases to understanding the benefits of being a good community citizen.The first SHOT Show on-line auction of Heritage Edition firearms and the traditional SHOT Show bow and knife raised thousands of dollars for the Heritage Fund.The SHOT Show is often a bellwether for the industry, and given the success of the 24th Annual show, the hunting and shooting sports industry can be optimistic about the year to come, and about the 25th Annual SHOT Show scheduled for February 13-16, 2003, in Orlando, Florida. http://www.nssf.org/releases/SHOT2002.htm

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This was an incredible Shot Show - far busier than last year in New Orleans. Rod Forth's (of Anheiser-Busch aka Budweiser) keynote speech was fantastic. The GunBroker crew passed out every business card and piece of literature they brought, in spite of bring 2x as much as they thought they would need. Everyone I talked to thought that this was the best Shot Show ever.