By Peggy Tartaro,
Executive Editor

The annual Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show kicks off the business travel year for me and many others in the firearms industry.

This year, the show came earlier than in recent years, so the Christmas tree and trimmings were barely put away before it was time to head for Orlando, the site of SHOT 2007. Evidence of the holidays still linger in that resort city and at breakfast one morning, workers could be seen scraping the painted poinsettias off the windows of the diner.

Many people who are not in the industry, but who have a keen interest in firearms have expressed a desire to attend the show, if for no other reason than to get a first look at all the new products companies will introduce that year.

Besides the obvious rejoinder of "be careful what you wish for," I always tell people that while, yes, they will thrill to the sights and sounds of SHOT, even as they look for a place to rest their weary and aching feet, but for maximum behind-the-scenes thrills they should come to the show on set-up and tear-down days.

The transformation from plain Jane cavernous hall to glitzy emporium is pretty cool, even if you get the feeling that somewhere-if only you could find her!-Cinderella's Fairy Godmother is busily changing mice into burly teamsters who might, or might not, know where your missing boxes are.

The Second Amendment Foundation, parent of W&G, has a relatively modest 200 feet of booth space at SHOT; square footage for some of the larger manufacturers run into the 10,000s. But whether you are visiting a booth small or large, far or near, there are always old friends and new products to catch up with.

This year, contributing editors Gila Hayes, Maria Heil, Sheila Link Paul Scarlata, and CJ Songer, all made it to Orlando, and, eventually, by the SAF booth. This was Maria's first SHOT experience, always fun to behold to us veterans, and she and her husband, Dale, kindly (and ably) minded the booth for us when we found ourselves short-handed due to the weather.

All of these folks will, over the next several months, be sharing some of their SHOT discoveries with readers; Maria and Gila have already started with this issue.

As usual, I also get a chance to meet some of our readers, and, even eighteen years later, still have occasion to "explain" what W&G is to people who have never seen it.

I got a chance this year to chat with one of the more active members of our Message Board over at womenadguns.com. This was her first SHOT Show experience and she was enjoying it tremendously.

Acquaintances who know what I do for a living, but who are not "gunnies" themselves, always seem surprised when I tell them that there are plenty of women in the firearms industry, many in key decision-making positions.

For the last several years, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), which owns the SHOT Show, has been hosting a women's lunch-a nice touch and an extra chance to catch up outside of the hurly-burly of the show hall.

If you took a snapshot of that luncheon I doubt very much whether anyone would be able to label it "firearms industry," any more than a similar gathering at any number of other trade shows.

While this is and has always been true of the manufacturing end of the business, it's also true on other levels as well.

I would "guesstimate" that for every two males I saw at the show with "dealer" credentials, I saw one woman as well.

The reason for that is pretty simple. Even in this "Big Box" age, there are still plenty of small gun dealerships which are family businesses, run in traditional "Mom & Pop" style.

And, make no mistake, "Mom" knows plenty about the business and is perfectly capable of discussing the finer points of everything from trigger weights to hunting gear with you.
As with many family operations, the business doesn't stop with mom and pop, but continues through generations.

I'm a second generationer myself, and could name a dozen or more folks, who like me, would have long ago stopped being referred to as a "kid," if it wasn't for a parent still in the business.

I smiled over Gila's picture of Sharon Ahern and her daughter, Samantha Akers, over at the Detonics booth on Page 33.

I had seen Sharon the previously July at our Romance Writers Firearms & Fiction conference, but I hadn't "seen" Samantha since the 1980s when she was a little girl, illustrating, along with her brother, a story of her dad's in Gun Week.

The longer you stay in any business, I suppose, the more people you get to know.

But, in the firearms business at least, when we get together, it feels more like Old Home Week than a trade show.

Peggy Tartaro

Photo © Copyright 1998 Nancy Floyd, used with permission.