August TacPack Subscription Box
As we mentioned previously on the GunLink Blog and in the TacPack thread on the GunLink forums, we signed up for a subscription to the TacPack subscription box – a monthly delivery of an assortment of tactical gear, accessories, gun parts, knives, and more.
The August Box has arrived and this post covers what is in it. If you are a subscriber and don’t want the surprise to be spoiled, don’t keep reading. We’ll take down the spoiler alert and switch to the regular TacPack blog post format after a few days once everyone else has had a chance to open theirs.
Details of the August TacPack contents from the card included in the box are below. Watch the TacPack thread on the GunLink Forums for more details and a review of the contents. Continue reading
June TacPack Subscription Box
We recently connected with TacPack and decided to give it a try and share some details about what’s in the box. More in depth details and discussion about the June box is on the GunLink Forums (come join the conversation), but this month’s box contains these goodies (descriptions are from the TacPack website).
Atlanta to Host NRA’s 146th Annual Meetings and Exhibits
The 146th National Rifle Association (NRA) Annual Meetings and Exhibits will be held at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia from April 27-30, 2017. This four-day event will be attended by tens of thousands of patriots and features more than 15 acres of the most spectacular displays of firearms, and shooting and hunting accessories in the world. For more information on the massive RKBA event, visit www.nraam.org.
The NRAAM features a powerhouse lineup of political speakers, a Saturday night celebration like no other, hundreds of exhibitors from around the firearms industry, fellowship with like-minded Second Amendment supporters at a variety of breakfasts, luncheons and dinners, and much more. Learn about the progress made over the past year and what the upcoming year has in store at the annual Meeting of Members during the show and make your voice heard within the country’s preeminent gun rights organization.
Attendance to the 146th NRA Show is free for current members of the National Rifle Association. If you are not yet a member, you can join the NRA at discounted rates here.
Exhibit hall hours are from 9AM to 6PM on Friday April 28 and Saturday April 29 and 10AM to 5PM on Sunday April 30. Click here for a complete list of NRAAM exhibitors and here for a schedule of events.
Participate in workshops and seminars on everything from Methods of Concealed Carry to effective dog training to self defense talks from the Refuse to be a Victim program. NRAAM also includes separate ticketed events like the Saturday night celebration with a concert by Hank Williams Jr with guest Lee Brice. Tickets for those events are available here.
For open and concealed carry practitioners, the NRAAM website offers the following statement: “During the 2017 NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits, lawfully carried firearms will be permitted in the Georgia World Congress Center and the Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center in accordance with Georgia law. However, firearms are not allowed in the remainder of the CNN Center, including the food court and shops. When carrying your firearm, remember to follow all federal, state and local laws.”
If you are already an NRA member, you can preregister here to have your admission badges mailed directly to you for free. Your badges give you full access to the exhibit hall for all three days. NRA members can include their spouse and up to 5 children (under the age of 18). If you still need to join NRA before the event, click here to join here for reduced dues.
Faux Automatic: Rapid Fire Without a Machine Gun
Before heading to SHOT Show this year, I consulted with a few other female shooters that I know to ask what they were hoping to see new this year. In general, I was surprised to find that they were actually in the same KISS school of thought that I am: something that works well, works consistently, and is not difficult to understand how it works. One thing that did surprise me was more interest in fully automatic firearms than I had expected. I have been fortunate in that I have had the opportunity, on more than one occasion, to shoot automatic weapons. If you have not experienced full-auto mag dumps yourself, to be completely honest, it is even more fun than it looks.
Fully-automatic weapons, or machine guns, are regulated under the National Firearms Act (NFA). The law basically says that the only legal machine guns for civilians are the ones that were lawfully possessed prior to May 19, 1986 and those require payment of a $200 transfer tax, lengthy approval process, and federal registration in the NFRTR. This makes for a very limited supply of weapons that are in circulation, which – as we learned about supply and demand in Economics 101 – drives the price sky high – often into the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. Unless you either join the military or have some pretty cool friends, you may not get the opportunity to shoot a machine gun.
However, a shooter and their ammo (ergo, their money) are easily parted and the firearms industry has come up with some innovative ways to turn a pocket full of money into a hot, smoking pile of spent brass. Thanks to that innovation, there are some legal ways to simulate full-auto firing power. Continue reading
2017 SHOT Show Boasts Big Attendance and Positive Outlook for the Firearms Industry
Four-day show draws nearly 65,000 industry professionals
LAS VEGAS – The 39th Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show, owned and operated by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), signaled a positive year ahead for the firearms industry. Strong attendance, upbeat buyers and sellers, and a series of packed special events that collectively made up “SHOT Week” resulted in one of the top-rated SHOT Shows.
The show spanned January 17-20 at the Sands Expo. Industry professionals packed the aisles from the opening bell, and attendance totaled nearly 65,000, surpassing last year’s turnout to make it the second most attended SHOT Show ever.
At one of the show’s biggest events, the NSSF State of the Industry Dinner on the first day, NSSF President and CEO Steve Sanetti, in a speech titled “A New Hope,” listed a series of priorities that industry will focus on to help protect its future and that of its customers. “Our overriding hope is that when it comes to helping stop the misuse of firearms by criminals, and preventing access to them by legally prohibited felons, the violently mentally ill, and the drug gangs who terrorize disarmed inhabitants of our cities, the American public will realize we are all on the same side.”
There were thousands of products for buyers to see on the show floor, encompassing firearms, ammunition, accessories, optics, knives, gun safes, apparel and law enforcement equipment, among other categories. More than 500 new products from 338 companies were on display in the show’s New Product Center, sponsored by U.S. Concealed Carry Association. In addition to the more than 1,600 exhibiting companies on the main show floors, the NEXT 2.0 Pavilion provided first-time vendors from the show’s extensive waiting list with welcome visibility and potential new customers. Continue reading
GunLink SHOT Show 2017 Photo Gallery
We are blazing our collective trails through the 13 acres (630,000 square feet!) of SHOT Show 2017, through the 12.5 miles of aisles (many of them multiple times over) to visit with as many of the 1,600 exhibitors as we can squeeze into the short time that we have here this week. Don’t forget that you can help us shape our coverage by posting in the GunLink Forums SHOT Show thread.
While the days, weeks, and months ahead will bring more in depth reviews and news about what is being unveiled at the enormous industry event, we will take you inside the halls of the SHOT Show to get a glimpse of what attendees saw through the following photos. Comment below or in the show thread if you have any questions or want more details about particular photos or products before we have a chance to post more details about them.
And, of course, a big shout out to our partners who help make our coverage possible, including Brownells, Gunz Incorporated, Shot Force Pro targets, Northwood Components, BulletSafe, and Safariland Group! Continue reading
