It’s weeks after the conclusion of the renowned 2026 Shot Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. As a first-time participant and attendee of the SHOT Show under the umbrella of Gun Talk Media, I have categorized myself as the “FNG” (Fortunate New Guy) after my first attendance at this incredulous event. Attending as a staff writer/trainer for Gun Talk Media, the following is a post-event account of my observations and experiences at SHOT Show 2026 from a total “FNG” perspective.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) “SHOT” (Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade) Show has a long history, with the first event being held in 1979. The SHOT Show has evolved into one of the largest trade shows in the United States, with this year’s event boasting over 2700 exhibitors spread throughout over 834,000 square feet of space and an impressive attendance of more than 53,000 people exploring the weeklong venue.
My journey to this great trade show started with flying into the Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport a few days prior to the event, renting a car, and transiting to a hotel to make ready for the busy week ahead. On this trip, I was accompanied by my wife and my 86-year-old mother-in-law to meet up with some friends we hadn’t seen in a long time prior to the show. The meeting up with friends went great and my family was able to enjoy the experience of Las Vegas while I traversed the world of “everything related to the shooting industry” during the SHOT Show weekdays.
Having a rental car, I picked up Chris Cerino from his hotel on the Sunday prior to showtime to make a logistics run over to a local Walmart. We entered the Walmart parking lot just in time to watch the Las Vegas Police Department professionally handle a vehicle altercation between two excited parties. Although it would have made great content for an episode of “First Person Defender”, we assessed the scene and, satisfied that the officer had all under control and it appeared safe to proceed.
Armed with the bare necessities to survive the week, we drove back to the Palazzo Hotel where we ended up navigating the exhibition floor and found the registration area where we obtained our SHOT Show badges. After Chris provided me with a quick recon of the show floor and familiarized where the Gun Talk Media broadcast booth was positioned, we made our way back and settled in for the next day’s event.
The next day started with me picking up Tom Gresham and Chris Cerino from the Palazzo hotel where we drove to the Boulder City Rifle and Gun Club for the Shot Show 2026 “Industry Day” at the Range. This event is closed to the public and involves key stakeholders in the gun industry displaying their new wares, and the trade and media representatives checking it all out. Driving into the parking area reminded me of arriving to a large County fair (minus the Ferris Wheel) where copious space for parking had been marked out and made to accommodate a significantly large number of vehicles. There were large tents and banners erected and displayed in the background for a long distance across the firearms range bays. Everyone seemed to share a collective sense of excitement that charged the air with energy, awaiting the forthcoming.
After entering thru the pass control point, the three of us ultimately walked the entire length of the range venue, stopping in to say hello to some of the familiar faces, many of whom have come out for work or participate in events at Range Ready Studios (owned and operated by Tom’s son Ryan Gresham in Robert, Louisiana). We were frequently stopped by folks that Tom and Chris have known for a long time, and I had the great experience of meeting some of the industry iconic innovators and leaders “by proxy” as I followed Tom and Chris thru the venue.
One of our first trade booth stops was at “Laugo Arms” to check out the new “Alien 9mm Pistol” designed with a low bore axis to reduce overall recoil for competition shooters. I had read about this gun prior to the event, and it had certainly caught my interest. Cerino partook in the honors, gripping the Alien Pistol in his hands and selectively placing a few shots downrange at some steel targets. This concluded with Chris noting a positive assessment of the overall shooting experience, to include the smooth feel of the trigger and reduced recoil of the gun.
Next stop was over to the OA Defense booth where Cerino received a brief on the OA Defense 2311 Compact Pro Elite, a 9mm 2011 style handgun which can take Sig Sauer P320 magazines. After the first few shots onto steel targets, Cerino commented that the gun felt “soft and light” and proceeded to insert a second magazine of five rounds which he accurately discharged downrange. Overall assessment of the OA Defense 2311 Compact Pro Elite was positive as well.
As we walked around the range, we zeroed in on some products that caught our attention. That said, we ran into the folks from “AntiMatter” showcasing an innovative patent pending device called the “Scopeswitch” which utilizes a “slide-rule” concept which is mounted on the top rail of an AR-15 and attached to the scope adjustment ring of an LPVO allowing the handler to adjust the focus of the scope while maintaining a “C” style handgrip with minimal disruption to the sight picture. The representatives on site informed us that the product was born thru real-world experience of military operators, which made sense to me after handling the product and manipulating the scope slide where it felt solid and reliable. I found this innovative product to be not only practical, but also enhancing efficiency of making rapid sight picture adjustments on the fly, showing great potential to benefit military, law enforcement, hunters, competition shooters and more.
Our “walk about” continued - visiting many other vendors, all worthy of notation. For the sake of my already longwinded report, I’ll sum it up to a few additional mentions. We sauntered over to see Daniel Farley and our long-established friends at Franklin Armory to check out the latest and greatest on display there, one of which happened to be the “Prevail” series bolt action rifle utilizing a new patent pending “Total Round Control” (TRC) technology. In a nutshell, the TRC technology integrates advantages inherent to traditional “control round feed” and “push feed” actions, providing for a superior shooting experience.
We visited our good friends at Colt and checked out the new Colt “Enhanced Patrol Rifle II” (EPR II). Checking out the specifications revealed the EPR II has the expected professional standard quality, integration of proven and reliable Colt technology, a 1:7 twist barrel and battle hardened Magpul accessories. In my opinion, the Colt Enhanced Patrol Rifle II is another great innovation to benefit not only law enforcement and military duty use, but also for the public shooting community looking for the ideal rifle to add to their gun portfolio for shooting sports endeavors, home protection considerations, and more.
With Tom and Chris having attended the SHOT Show for many years, they had our “Industry Day at the Range” itinerary locked down and precise like a Swiss clock. We departed our walk thru of the range venue just around lunch time and ventured over to the “World Famous Coffee Cup Café” in downtown Boulder City. Being a FNG (Fortunate New Guy) to this café as well, I found the food and the service to absolutely live up to their claim and reputation, enjoying a delicious meal amongst great company.
Tom told us some great stories and asked some thought-provoking questions during the meal (he would probably do well in a career as a radio talk show host), which made the experience especially memorable for me. One of the several interesting stories Tom shared from his childhood was his work as a very young member of a traveling band where you showed up to play the venue rain or shine, sick or not. This reminded me of the generation where a man’s word and a handshake was as solid as a written contract, not to be broken short of a “Force Majeure” event. Unfortunately, I’ve found over time that this honorable method of conducting business is not as predominate as days past, but it does still exist in certain circles today. None-the-less, it was a very informative and enjoyable conversation into Tom’s background, strong work ethic and who he is today. Traveling back to the hotel, we ended the day with preparing for the SHOT Show convention day one – the labyrinth of trade show floors.
Day one of the SHOT Show. Time to throw on the walking shoes. The elevators were packed with show attendees entering the hotel to navigate their way to the venue. I jumped in the midst and “flowed” with the crowd. The best way I can describe this is when you are walking thru a gigantic theme park (perhaps one that associates with a cartoon figure with large protruding ears) on a popular tourism day with good weather, and you are caught up in the flow of people heading in one general direction. Just enough elbow room to walk within limited personal space and to hang on to your cup of Joe without getting bumped as you saunter into one of the largest trade show events in Las Vegas. Everyone was polite, respectful, and exuded an air of optimistic excitement. I flowed with the crowd and eventually found myself in front of the Gun Talk Media booth where the rest of the crew had gathered.
After some greetings were exchanged between the team, we all split up to engage with vendors throughout the SHOT Show exhibit. Chris pulled me in with him and after a word of sound advice to me on how best to navigate the maze of exhibits, we began to make the rounds. One of the first stops we made (and a very fortunate one if you’re a coffee drinker) was over to the USCCA booth where I connected with a few of the staff I’d previously met, as well as some new folks that I didn’t know. Turns out that USCCA hired a Barista along with a coffee stand inside their display area where you could order from a large selection of coffee ranging from foo-foo to a shot of espresso to give you that extra lift when you needed it. I indulged in their generous hospitality, ordered a cup and began to mingle with the USCCA team.
For those not familiar, USCCA stands for the U.S. Concealed Carry Association, an organization that provides a broad array of products targeting the protection industry, such as self-defense and firearms training, use of force liability insurance, and much more. I have been an active member of USCCA for several years, engaging more with them after I had retired from law enforcement where I had pursued additional training and a continued interest within the laws governing the use of force, the second amendment, and the lawful armed citizen community. What I love about USCCA is their commitment to excellence and the continual evaluation and evolving of their training and products.
For example, USCCA revised both of their respective AR-15 and Defensive Pistol Program (DPP) Instructor training courses to refine the instructor shooting standards and, in essence, to ensure the highest standards are implemented to ensure quality of instruction for the program. Having attended the revised AR-15 course in 2024, I can personally attest to finding the course greatly informative from an instructor development standpoint, receiving intricate feedback and critique on my style of instruction to best deliver the content for the different types of student learning, along with new skills and effective drills to utilize in teaching the course curriculum. Not everyone passes the revised program – the standards must be met and one’s shooting skills must be on point to effectively demonstrate the program while teaching it. A new change implemented this year is that the USCCA instructor candidates pursuing these advanced certifications must attend the student portion first (8 hours for the AR15 and 16 hours for the DPP). I am looking forward to attending the revised 16-hour DPP student course sometime this year.
Another one of our stops was at the BladeTech booth where, to my delight, I discovered the “Valor”, a truly unique universal light holster that will work not only with the TLR and X300 weapon lights, but with the Olights, Inforce, Nightsticks, Modlights and more. Being retired law enforcement and as a trainer who can’t seem to get away from tinkering and evaluating all sorts of gear (particularly light bearing holsters), I thought that this was a true game changer. One of my first inside the waistband holsters while working in law enforcement was made by BladeTech. Most universal duty holsters I have tested and used are limited to a specific selection of particular light manufacturers and models, generally not as broad of a selection as offered with the BladeTech Valor Duty Holster. From my humble perspective as a SHOT Show FNG (Fortunate New Guy), a legitimate kudos to the BladeTech team for this universally functional innovation in holster design.
Fast forward to a few “after SHOW” evening events that this “FNG” got to participate in. Chris and I drove over to an offsite firearms range event hosted by Smith & Wesson where I again had the pleasure to meet a whole lot of folks in the industry that Chris has known for a long time. We networked a bit and enjoyed some very good catered food while standing at one of the many tall round tables spread around the room. At one point, Gunsite’s own Ken Campbell came over to our table to say hello to everyone and share in the good-natured conversation. Of course, Gunsite needs no introduction to most, with the founder being the late and great Colonel Jeff Cooper (USMC), well known for his creation and implementation of core shooting safety rules and modernized firearms training techniques that the shooting community still continues to utilize and benefit from to this day. Having previously attended training at Gunsite, I personally recommend that every student of the firearms training craft go and visit – you will not be disappointed.
We had Bryan Eastridge and Darrel “DB” Bolke at the table, both founders of the popular “Revolver Fest” held annually at the beautiful Clinton House Plantation in Clinton, South Carolina. Bryan and DB shared some interesting background on the origins of Revolver Fest and the hard work put in moving forward to see this fantastic event grow in attendance each year. I carried a few different J-frame Smith & Wesson revolvers as backups during my law enforcement career (predominately the model 60 and the 640) and I still find revolvers relevant to modern day protection. Revolver Fest’s 2026 lineup is one not to be missed, with legendary trainers such as Greg Ellifritz, Chuck Haggard, Wayne Dobbs, and many more. If you feel the need to release some endorphins with a little “revolver action” style ballistic therapy, then book your spot to check out Revolver Fest and enjoy the festivities (I will most likely see you there!).
After mowing down a few of the delicious slider size burgers, Chris and I jumped into the range line to go and try out some of Smith and Wesson’s latest firearms. I ended up shooting the 9mm M&P 9 M2.0 Competitor HD (optic ready but with iron sights) and was immediately impressed with the design, weight and ergonomics to the grip. I shot a nice sized group of 10 rounds confirming my initial impression of the gun’s weight and design. Designed to provide a true competitive edge, the Smith & Wesson M&P 9 M2.0 Competitor HD includes a 5” spiral fluted barrel and an all-stainless steel frame to reduce felt recoil, enhanced frame texture for consistent grip control, an external mag well, four adjustable backstraps and much more to maximize the competitive edge.
And if the night couldn’t have gotten any better, I ran into Riley Bowman as Chris and I were heading out the door to attend the next event of the evening. I met Riley awhile back in a Tom Given’s RangeMaster class where I watched Riley absolutely smoke the challenges during the course, winning the title of “Top Shot” for the class and one of Tom’s achievement coins. I remember seeing how calm Riley appeared while he was shooting and asked about his training regimen, where he attributed much to his dry fire practice. Really humble guy and an incredible shooter – was fun to briefly connect once again with one of the great contributors to the firearms training realm.
On the way out the event door we bumped into Team Colt multi-time World and National Champion shooter Jalise Williams and her fiancé, who happened to be heading to the same USCCA VIP event that we were. Of course, it made no sense to blow money on a rideshare when we were all heading to the same place, so we all packed into my rental wagon and off we went back towards the Las Vegas strip. I must admit my navigational skills as the FNG were lacking and one wrong turn overshooting the event put us on a 15-minute sightseeing detour loop. But we finally made it over to the event, and Jalise and her fiancé had a great attitude about the detour, taking in the night lights of Vegas. By the way, if you all want to level up your shooting skills and learn from a repetitive World Champion shooter, reach out to Jalise to schedule some premiere training.
Walking into the USCCA VIP event we were greeted to the sight and sounds of an 80s rock tribute band (big hair and all) who intertwined humor into some excellent musical talent, playing all the old familiar hits. The event had everything Vegas had to offer – live music, good food, open bar, and even a booth with artists who were drawing impressive cartoon caricatures of the attendees. Chris introduced me to Trent Marsh, an accomplished industry writer who was generous enough to share some of his insights with me. Trent left me with some valuable advice from a writer’s perspective (thank you Trent!). Walking throughout the venue, I eventually saw Chris again in his element where he had struck conversation with a few of the USCCA executives hosting the event. As the evening began to grow long and the band began to play its last songs, we departed the event commenting on what a great job the USCCA had done on putting such a successful networking opportunity together. More to come! ~ Chuck
Chuck Baxter
Chuck is a retired federal law enforcement officer and military veteran with more than 27 years of combined experience in law enforcement, criminal investigations, national security operations, and military service. He is married to his lovely wife of “many decades” and has two children. Chuck served in the U.S. Navy as a “Gunner’s Mate Guns” during the Cold War era, performing various assignments to include providing firearms training to Naval personnel and working as a Navy Law Enforcement Specialist, providing security, force protection, and law enforcement duties for military installations. He currently owns his own protection focused training company for lawful armed citizens and works as an adjunct employee for Range Ready Studios performing duties as assigned.
As a former Supervisory Special Agent with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Chuck led multi-agency teams investigating complex financial crimes, fraud, money laundering, drug and weapons trafficking, and national security violations involving controlled technologies. His career includes directing and coordinating high-risk law enforcement operations across the United States, along the Southwest border, and overseas, including a diplomatic assignment to the U.S. Embassy in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Throughout his career, Chuck held key operational and leadership assignments across DHS and federal interagency task forces, including roles within the DEA-led Special Operations Division, the U.S. Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and the DHS Joint Task Force–West in San Diego. He has deployed to numerous high-risk operations and national emergency responses, including MS-13 Operation Devil Horns in San Francisco, Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, and Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies (Government & Business) from Liberty University and has completed multiple leadership programs, including the distinguished Johns Hopkins Leadership Staff Ride at Gettysburg.
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