[SHOT 2026] Day 2: The People Of SHOT Show

Last year, I wrote up a day in the life of a TFB writer at SHOT Show. Sharing the new products is fun, but this show is an experience, and that does not always come through in the coverage. SHOT exists to put basically everyone in the gun industry into a room together, so here is a field guide to the people of SHOT Show.

SHOT Show @ TFB:

• [SHOT 2026] Zastava M84 Machine Gun Cometh!
• [SHOT 2026] CMP Shows Off New Old Guns
• [SHOT 2026] First Look: Nightforce NX6 Scope Lineup
• [SHOT 2026] Streamlight New Releases
• [SHOT 2026] Bronco Arms SPAS12 "Clone"

Industry Characters

One of the most enjoyable parts of SHOT Show is meeting people you have only interacted with as a viewer or reader. It is also a little surreal to look from a display table and realize that is Jerry Miculek standing right there. Or, like last year, I ran into Ron Spomer in the press room and had a brief fangirl moment. My brief interactions with both of those gentlemen were very positive, but there are more than a few egos in this industry, and some characters have an overinflated sense of importance. But by and large, there are a lot of people to meet, and most leave you feeling better for having done so.

A subcategory within this is the influencer and gun bunny crowd. To be fully transparent, I fit into that first category, so I am not a fully impartial commenter. Much like the traditional industry characters, the meme lords, influencers, and friends also run the gamut from very real to highly pretentious. There has also been more than once that I realized a gun bunny sans filter apps was almost unrecognizable in person. And, because we all frame our pictures and videos to have us centered in the frame, the sense of scale can be lost. Some are far taller or shorter than they seem in their content, and it can make them hard to recognize!

There also seems to be, at times, an inverse relationship between how demanding a media type is with how large of a following they actually have. Once, I was taking pictures of a product in a booth, and Ron Spomer himself waited patiently for me to finish up before stepping up to look for himself. I offered to let him go first, and he declined. Contrast this with the guys who will try to interrupt your discussion with booth staff to “film for their channel,” which has 47 subs when you go and look it up later that night.

Despite the occasional annoying person, seeing the rest of the people is the best part of the show. This is the one time of year that many of us will see one another, and it is fun to run into people you “know” from the internet in real life. But please, if you see your favorite YouTuber working on a video, wait to say hi until they are done filming!

Swag Hounds

SHOT Show offers reusable plastic tote bags at the show entrance every year, and a subset of attendees make it their life’s mission to fill that bag as many times as possible with every sticker, brochure, and pamphlet possible. The Swag Hound will interrupt your conversation with an employee to find out if they have any hats to give out. True swag seekers are not at SHOT to see cool guns; they are there to snag as much merch as possible, and all other concerns are secondary.

A further evolution of the Swag Hound is the “rolling crate” variation. This person is so aggressive in their attempts to gather patches, stickers, pamphlets, and coozies that they bring a rolling crate to pull behind themselves. This causes unnecessary traffic congestion, knocks over people’s booth signage, and causes a tripping hazard. SHOT Show, if you are listening, please ban these from the show.

Smalltown FFL Goes To Las Vegas

This SHOT Show attendee can usually be seen outside the show staring up at the casinos in awe. Because SHOT is open to the industry, all dealers can get tickets to attend. This is great because companies can get feedback from Bob’s Sporting Goods that they otherwise would never hear, and after 17 small FFLs have told you they would sell a certain product if it existed, it becomes much easier to justify the development costs for that product. And while direct selling of products is forbidden at the show, signing contracts is not, and many distributors and manufacturers offer special deals at the show, so a lot of purchasing decisions get made here in Las Vegas. Being able to handle the product and make those decisions face-to-face with the company can be more reassuring than hoping that the picture and description online are correct!

The flip side of the coin is that the sheer scale of SHOT can be totally overwhelming, let alone Las Vegas itself. The exhibit halls of SHOT Show are broken up between the Venetian and Caesar’s Palace, which are joined by a small metal bridge. This is a very high traffic area, and it always seems that the person who decided to stop and take a break in a critical walkway is from an FFL in a town with a population of 7,000. To be fair, it is nice to be outside for a change, and this is the view from the bridge around sunset, so I fully understand the urge to dilly-dally here. But please, do so out of the walkway.

Electric Scooter Guy

This is not a knock on anyone who needs a scooter for mobility. SHOT Show involves a lot of walking and standing, and that is simply not possible for everyone at the same level. The scooter guys you notice are the ones who think that the rules of traffic only apply on the road system. It seems like there is a contractual obligation for scooter users to park in the middle of the most important intersections. Or to head into a booth that they clearly will not be able to maneuver back out of.

The issue here is usually a skill issue. Getting run over or bumped by a scooter is a constant threat. They crawl around the show floor looking for unsuspecting people to pick off like some kind of silent, unintentional apex predator. Beware the scooters.

IP Thieves

One major issue faced by all kinds of businesses is IP theft, particularly from China. In the firearm space, this is a major concern. I have seen people with concealed cameras taking pictures of products or walking past booths while clearly recording with a semi-hidden camera. Some booths have signage up forbidding pictures or video without express permission, and the show even has an official policy forbidding “Photography or video recording at the show is prohibited except by those with valid media badges or other authorized individuals.”

Now, in the age of social media and smartphones, everyone takes pictures. Many of the images and videos you see on social media from pages you follow are probably in technical violation of that policy, but it is not really enforced unless someone us up to something suspicious. But I did see someone from a foreign country with a history of IP infringement have her friend take a “cute” picture of her posing at the show. But the background for that picture was a vendor display showing the machining progression of a component, which is exactly what someone who was trying to copy a product would want to capture. Was this nefarious or not? I don’t know. But if I were trying to take a cute picture showing myself at SHOT there are dozens of locations better suited than the spot she chose.

Military & Police

SHOT is an international show, and it is not uncommon to see individuals in foreign military uniforms festooned with medals visiting booths. There is also a huge population of guys at the show who are dressed like very obvious undercover cops, and their show passes reveal that they are, in fact, police officers attending the show. A lot of military units and police departments find new things they want to use on the job at SHOT Show. It is a little surreal to be browsing a booth and look over to see an organization name and hometown that strongly suggest this particular someone is involved with the highest levels of special operations, and is also very interested in the item you are looking at.

Concrete Workers

SHOT Show takes place the same week as World of Concrete, the “ONLY annual international tradeshow dedicated to the commercial concrete and masonry construction industries.” SHOT Show attendees and World of Concrete attendees often look very similar, and trying to figure out which convention the guy in your hotel lobby is attending is a fun game. SHOT Show people tend to have a lot more Velcro on their backpacks.

Thanks for joining us on this journey through the people of SHOT Show. Next time you are watching a TFBtv video from the show floor and hear noise in the background, try to guess who it was. This is not an exhaustive list, but hopefully it adds some color to TFB’s show coverage.