Update for Harrisburg

[kellory]

THE GUN SHOW HAS BEEN CANCELLED!
... Anyone have any ideas as to who could step forward to fill that role? Caugh*D&DH.COM*caugh
Anyone at all?

First off, the Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show in Harrisburg was never a "gun show." It has been more like the old trappers' rendezvous where everyone came out of the mountains for a celebration, good times, friendly competitions, trading, and food. Guns have been included, but not so much the buying and selling of them as in a gun show, and they haven't been the main aspect of the show.

Second, it's not a bad idea for a good organization that knows and supports hunters to start a show of this size, but any organization that decides to get into the show business can't act quickly to make a decision. It's not unprecedented that a magazine take over an outdoor show. Field & Stream bought the Midwestern series of deer & turkey expos, but that was a case of an up and running show series that was simply bought. The promoter continued in transition.

In replacing the ESOS anyone, including D&DH, would actually be starting from scratch. It's way more than management. Reed Exhibitions has all the vendor contact info, contractual arrangements with the host site, and lots of history running very large consumer shows. No one could just step in and "manage." Besides, D&DH is part of Krause/F&W. It might be a good idea to extend the brand this way, but lots of corporate discussions would have to take place before making a decision to do that.

But, it would be nice of a good magazine would hold a large national show or two -- maybe one in the east and one in the west.

For now, the future of the ESOS, or whatever replaces it, is uncertain.

Steve.

well, it may not be a gun show, but it is being billed as one, and ALL of it's current problems are due the the exclusion of one type of gun. I know it would be a stretch, but it could be announced that those who did want to participate, at the same planned venue, under new management contact you. And the main purpose of my comment was, ...it got you thinking about the possibilities didn't it? It could be done, with patience and volunteers, and good will, it could be done.

[Everyday Hunter]

I don't know what promotions you've seen, Kellory, but no one promoting the ESOS promoted it as a gun show. Of the 1200 or so vendor booths, only a dozen or so display guns. I've never heard of a gun being sold there, and in 10 years of attending I've never seen a person carrying a gun to buy or to sell. The media, however, has said it was a gun show. I guess it's part of their schtick, but it's also possible that some people have confused the ESOS with the Harrisburg gun show -- a totally unrelated event.

Steve.

[kellory]

I don't know what promotions you've seen, Kellory, but no one promoting the ESOS promoted it as a gun show. Of the 1200 or so vendor booths, only a dozen or so display guns. I've never heard of a gun being sold there, and in 10 years of attending I've never seen a person carrying a gun to buy or to sell. The media, however, has said it was a gun show. I guess it's part of their schtick, but it's also possible that some people have confused the ESOS with the Harrisburg gun show -- a totally unrelated event.

Steve.

""Reed Exhibitions has decided to postpone, for now, the Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show given the controversy surrounding its decision to limit the sale or display of modern sporting rifles (also called ARs) at the event. The show was scheduled to take place February 2-10 in Harrisburg, Pa.," the organizer said in a statement Thursday.

The show is the biggest in the nation and features several outdoors groups, hundreds of exhibitors and the most popular TV hunting show stars. It draws thousands from the Washington-Baltimore area. As the assault rifle ban became known, exhibitors, sponsors and the TV stars withdrew by the dozens.

The NRA is a huge sponsor of the show and pulled out Tuesday after Reed moved to ban assault rifles like Bushmasters and AR-15s at the show. A Bushmaster was used in the Newtown, Conn., shootings, according Connecticut State Police Lt. Paul Vance, and Reed said it was bowing to concerns about the gun in banning it from the show.

In its statement today, organizer Reed Exhibitions said that the whole show, which includes fishing and camping exhibits, "could not be held because the atmosphere of this year's show would not be conducive to an event that is designed to provide family enjoyment. It is unfortunate that in the current emotionally charged atmosphere this celebratory event has become overshadowed by a decision that directly affected a small percentage of more than 1,000 exhibits showcasing products and services for those interested in hunting and fishing.""

Guns are all the media talks about, concerning this show, the types of guns, the banning of guns, the disagreement about the banning of these guns, the shut down of the show because of the sponsors who have pulled out because of the ban, everything good and bad about this show has centered around guns. Of the 1200 presenters, 207 pulled out because of guns, and the second amendment. So, no matter what it's intended purpose WAS, It is a gun show....just not the show they had in mind.

[Homunculi]

this is one post from a vendor that was to be at the show ... tenpoint tech ... bear archery and bow hunting addiction tv and several other vendors i get e-mail/news letters and see facebook postings from them


News Release

TENPOINT CROSSBOW TECHNOLOGIES
1325 Waterloo Road
Mogadore, OH 44260
www.tenpointcrossbows.com

For immediate release

TenPoint Withdraws from ESOS Event and
Purchases Lifetime NRA Memberships for Employees

Mogadore, OH –TenPoint Crossbow Technologies’ Chairman and CEO, Rick Bednar, expressing his company’s steadfast disagreement with the decision of the Eastern Sports & Outdoor Show management to prohibit the display and sale of Modern Sporting Rifles at its 2013 Harrisburg,



PA event, has decided to remove TenPoint’s display from the upcoming February 2-10 show.

“We are taking this action to stand in solidarity with many other shooting and outdoor sporting goods manufacturers in support of the guarantees expressed in the 2nd Amendment to our Constitution,” Bednar said. “We regret having to make this decision because we have supported this great consumer event nearly every year since our inception in 1994. It is unfortunate, but I believe we must take this position as a matter of principle.”

To underscore his decision, Bednar has also decided to purchase lifetime NRA memberships for all TenPoint employees who wish to have one. “The NRA, more than any other entity, has led the effort to protect of our right to own and bear arms,” Bednar said. “The best way to support their effort is to grow the ranks of their membership.”

“The NRA mission, however, encompasses greater goals than simply protecting our right to bear arms,” Bednar continued. “Before we opened our doors for business, we crafted a Corporate Statement that guides our decision making process, and we think it is compatible with the NRA’s larger view. In part, this Statement has motivated us to support their efforts. Its last sentence states that, ‘… we are committed to the care and conservation of our land, water and air; to the humane and responsible management of our wildlife and to the preservation and expansion of recreational shooting and hunting.’ We believe the NRA shares a similar view.”

[Everyday Hunter]

Thanks, kellory. You make my point. It was not promoted as a gun show, and there are all kinds of inaccuracies in what has been said. I could make a dozen or so points about the mistakes and inaccuracies in what has been reported, but maybe no one would read them. I'll just say that In your last paragraph, you say "Guns were all that the media talked about...." Exactly my point, and here's a picture that demonstrates it: It accompanied a report on the cancellation of the show in the Philadelphia Inquirer. This is not a picture of the Eastern Sport Show. It is another event altogether:


When the media screams "Guns, Guns, Guns," it does not make it a gun show. Gun shows are places were gun dealers gather to buy, sell, trade, and display their wares. There is another Harrisburg show that is a gun show, owned an operated by other people and held in the same place, but this was not the gun show. When the media makes mistakes or reports inaccurately, the mistakes and inaccuracies do not become true.

I have been there for the last 10 years, I have represented vendors there, and I am very well acquainted with the show. Anyone who says it was a gun show is simply making a mistake or is grinding an axe. I trust you are simply making a mistake, and not grinding an axe. To anyone who has been to both gun shows and outdoor shows, there is a clear difference.

Steve.

[kellory]

"When the media screams "Guns, Guns, Guns," it does not make it a gun show."
And cosmetic changes to a hunting rifle does not, under any circumstances,, make it an assault weapon. And yet it is being banned as such. Perception matters more than mere facts. At least to those who keep trying to make more rules. Your show is being called a gunshow, because the focal point of it position in the news IS GUNS and the EXCLUSION of ONE TYPE OF WEAPON. True facts have little to do with that perception.
True facts have little to do with the banning of the AR-15 either, or 30 rd, mags. In both cases, it is perception, you are fighting, not facts.Emotions, not logic, laws, not Liberty.

[Everyday Hunter]

"When the media screams "Guns, Guns, Guns," it does not make it a gun show."
And cosmetic changes to a hunting rifle does not, under any circumstances,, make it an assault weapon. And yet it is being banned as such. Perception matters more than mere facts. At least to those who keep trying to make more rules. Your show is being called a gunshow, because the focal point of it position in the news IS GUNS and the EXCLUSION of ONE TYPE OF WEAPON. True facts have little to do with that perception.
True facts have little to do with the banning of the AR-15 either, or 30 rd, mags. In both cases, it is perception, you are fighting, not facts.Emotions, not logic, laws, not Liberty.

I'm beginning to think you agree with me.

If the media calls a hunting rifle with certain cosmetic additions a controversial assault weapon, it doesn't become an assault weapon. We agree.
Then if the media calls an outdoor show a gun show just because a certain gun issue adds controversy to it, it doesn't become a gun show.

Perception is important, but perception isn't necessarily reality.

Steve.

[kellory]

BINGO! Give that man a cigar! perception is what we are always fighting, not facts! Media bias, Bambi Thumpers, And Litigators who feel they should be seen DOING SOMETHING, just not anything useful. Like mag cap limits. or banning a gun for what it LOOKS LIKE. We are fighting emotions, smoke and mirrors.

[Everyday Hunter]

BINGO! Give that man a cigar! perception is what we are always fighting, not facts! Media bias, Bambi Thumpers, And Litigators who feel they should be seen DOING SOMETHING, just not anything useful. Like mag cap limits. or banning a gun for what it LOOKS LIKE. We are fighting emotions, smoke and mirrors.

So we agree that the Harrisburg Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show was not a gun show, despite what anyone says or thinks here or in the media.
The battle for truth, justice and clarity never ends.

Steve.

[JPH]

...perception is what we are always fighting...

...The battle for truth, justice and clarity never ends.

Man! I hope they don't read the thread next door.