SHOT Show: A Quarter Century of Aisles, Friends, and Change

Written by Laura Burgess, Founder of Laura Burgess Marketing

Every year at SHOT Show, someone inevitably asks the same question: “So… how many have you been to?” At this point, most of us have long run out of fingers and toes to count on. This year marked my 25th SHOT Show, a number that feels both impossible and completely earned. I’ve missed a few along the way, thanks to COVID, cancelled flights, and life doing what life does, but the show has been a thread running through most of my career. And every year, like the seasoned old-timer I’ve apparently become, I find myself marveling at how much it has changed.

My first SHOT Show was in 1995, the same year the Federal Assault Weapons Ban went into effect. I was working at SIGARMS in Exeter, New Hampshire, having recently moved from managing the warehouse to joining the marketing department. Before that, I spent my days receiving containers of imported SIG Sauer pistols and shipping them back out to distributors as fast as they arrived. By ’94, SIGARMS had begun producing slides and frames in-house and was inching toward the polymer revolution that would reshape the handgun world.

Back then, SHOT Show was still growing into itself. The very first show in 1979 had fewer than 300 exhibitors and under 5,000 attendees. By the time I arrived in Las Vegas for my first SHOT Show in ’95, my first trade show of any kind, it had already become a major industry event. I was suddenly responsible for managing our brand-new booth, and I owe my survival that year to my long-time friend, John Magness. He worked at the display company building our booth and guided me through the maze of contracts, deadlines, and logistics with a calmness I desperately needed.

After a long day setting up that massive SIGARMS booth, I had my first-ever Grand Lux meal at 1 a.m. I was exhausted, exhilarated, and completely hooked. Those early years were filled with industry icons, legendary hunters, influential writers, and company leaders whose stories shaped the firearms world.

In the 90s, media coverage was everything. Magazines like Guns & Ammo, American Handgunner, American Rifleman, Gun World, and Petersen’s Hunting drove the conversation, and companies scrambled to get prototypes ready for their pages. SHOT Show was dominated by hunting guns and gear, with giants like Remington, Marlin, and Winchester building booths the size of small cities. After-hours parties were extravagant, invitation-only affairs. And yes, “gun bunnies” were absolutely part of the culture back then.

Revolvers still held strong, and after the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban, the few AR companies that existed seemed to disappear overnight. Wood stocks ruled the show floor. GLOCK’s polymer pistol was slowly nudging the industry forward, and SIGARMS eventually joined the movement with the P239.

Military-style firearms were kept behind closed doors, literally. If you wanted to see them, you were escorted into the booth office for a private meeting. It was a different world.

Then came Y2K, survivalist culture, and the unimaginable events of September 11, 2001. Everything shifted. The demand for tactical gear surged, and NSSF responded by carving out a small Law Enforcement section at SHOT. It instantly became the most crowded part of the show. When the Assault Weapons Ban expired in 2004, the AR-15 roared back, reshaping the industry and the show floor.

Hunting companies struggled as the “modern sporting rifle” took center stage. Suits gave way to tactical pants and contractor beards. Many companies split their booths between traditional hunting products and the booming tactical market.

I eventually stepped away from SHOT just before COVID, and then the world went quiet. When I returned in 2025 with my daughter, Ashley, now the company’s president, to present an email marketing seminar at NSSF Retailer University, it felt like stepping into a familiar room that had been rearranged while I was gone.

The layout was mostly the same, aside from the addition of the Caesars Forum. But the vibe? Very different. The crowd was younger. The “gun bunny” era was gone. Women-owned businesses and women in leadership roles were everywhere, something that made me feel both proud and a little like the industry’s OG auntie. Printed catalogs had been replaced by QR codes, digital kiosks, and scanners. Swag was minimal and often tucked away.

The after-hours scene had mellowed, too. Big parties have largely disappeared, replaced by tighter budgets and a generation that prefers texting over cocktail chatter.

But this year, at SHOT 2026, I felt something I hadn’t felt in a long time, a genuine positive energy. Foot traffic seemed stronger. Exhibitors looked optimistic. And the best part? Reconnecting with old friends, many now retired, many a little grayer, and reminiscing about the wild ride this industry has taken us on.

SHOT Show remains a pilgrimage. A place where the past and present meet in the aisles. A place where we remember the companies, the characters, and the moments that shaped our careers. And if the rumors are true… wood stocks might just be making a comeback.