AMERICAS - The National Rifle Association (NRA) has revealed that visitors will not be allowed to buy guns at the new Great American Outdoor Show next year.
When NRA president David Keene announced the show launch this month, he said "all legal firearms and products" could be displayed and sold at the Great American Outdoor Show, scheduled to take place on 1-9 February 2014.
But now, vendors will only be allowed to display firearms, “including AR-15s and other guns that promoter Reed Exhibitions would have banned in the previous show,” an NRA spokesman said.
NRA announced the launch of its new show at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, after Reed Exhibitions cancelled its sports and outdoor show. The replacement follows Reed’s decision to ban tactical weapons and high-capacity magazines from the event, sparking exhibitor withdrawals.
Reed’s show became the subject of heated discussion over its decision to ban assault rifles and high-capacity magazines in an effort to avoid negative media coverage.
Asked if whether the show takeover was a political statement, Keene said: "What happened here in Harrisburg was symbolically important because it showed and demonstrated that the narrative some people wanted to put out was wrong, and that the only people concerned about Second Amendment rights were gun people."
The NRA has also said it intends to organise a ‘true outdoors show’ that will appeal to fans of fishing, hiking, boating and camping that are not interested in hunting or shooting.
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/8571479924/
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