In short, 64,329 NRA members came through the exhibit hall, and the NRA raised a whole lot of money for various programs they offer. Very cool.

On Sunday, I decided to be a bit adventuresome and take the metro light rail train into downtown Phoenix, so as to avoid the high parking fees. After getting horribly lost (which included driving through a shady looking trailer park whilst looking for parking — they need better signs) for a short period, Louis and I arrived at the train station, parked, and were off to the convention center.

Once there, we met up with a few other bloggers at the NRA Press Office and went out to lunch. Going off memory, we had Sebastian and Bitter, Eric, Mike, Bradford, and a couple other folks who I seem to have forgotten (sorry guys!).

From left to right, we have Sebastian, Bitter, Eric, Mike, and myself.

After experiencing the silliness of Arizona gun laws relating to carrying in establishments that serve alcohol, we had a tasty lunch, and most of us (Jason was going back to the airport) headed back to the show.

I really wanted to ask the Ruger reps some questions about the SR-556, but they were quite busy when I first checked, so Louis and I perused the exhibit floor and managed to get our hands on some things that we didn’t get to see the previous day, including the FN SCAR:

The SCAR had some different ergonomics than the AR platform (which I’m used to), but still seemed to be reasonably lefty friendly. One notable feature was the folding stock — a simple button-press released the stock, which folded around to the right. It snapped into a notch on the brass deflector and so could be secured in the folded position. The stock didn’t end up blocking the ejection port when folded, and since no operating parts were in the stock the gun could be fired while folded. Very cool.

One booth was run by a few skilled craftsmen who made very tiny, functional pistols. The gentleman (whose name I can’t recall) from the Pennsylvania Firearm Owner’s Association who was walking around with us mentioned that on Saturday the booth had a tiny, fully working 1911 that fired itty-bitty cartridges, but that exhibitor was not present today. That would have been really interesting to see.

Finally, I saw a break at the Ruger booth and struck. Fortunately, my questions were not terribly time-consuming, and I got most of them answered in just a few minutes.

Moving on, we found some very cool rifles at the Bushmaster booth — I’m very familiar with the solid, triangular front sight post on AR-pattern rifles, and I’ve seen and used various flip-up iron sights, but I’ve never seen the two combined into a flip-up, triangular front sight post:

This sight was remarkably rigid when extended and was quite compact when folded. The only problem I could see was that there wasn’t any sort of detent that would keep the sight folded — if one were to bump or brush the front sight against something, it’s possible that the sight could flip back up. There wasn’t a detent to lower the sight, but it required force applied in a specific manner, so I don’t think it’d be likely to fold down on its own. This particular front sight post also included a bayonet lug, though they have models without the lug if one wishes.

One can buy such a front sight assembly from the manufacturer here.

The .410 Shotshell/.45 Colt Taurus Judge revolver is an impressive beast, yet still fit comfortably in my hand. I’d really like to give this revolver a spin at the range sometime.

The Glock booth was near the Taurus booth, so we handled a few of the 4th Generation pistols and spoke with some of the reps.

Louis and I then went and lusted over the shinies at the CZ booth, where I was happy to learn that I could order a left-handed CZ-452 American direct from CZ, have their custom shop replace the ordinary barrel with the 16″ pre-threaded barrel found on this model, and have it sent directly to my FFL for pickup. Basically, I’d have a lefty, 16″, pre-threaded 452. Since I love shooting my .22s suppressed and have ammo that’s just barely subsonic out of a 16″ barrel, this is excellent news indeed. They gave me a card and asked me to call in the next week or so to work out a price.

We then headed over to the Leupold booth, where we got to play with their scopes. Compared to the other optics available at the show, the Leupold ones were far and away the brighter and clearer. Louis is an astronomer, and so has developed a great eye for optical aberrations and flaws…and found none in the Leupold optics, while detecting a few minor things (mostly chromatic aberration) in scopes from other brands like Nikon.

While their scopes are made in the US, I was a bit dismayed to discover their laser rangefinders are made in China. Even so, the different models were extremely consistent when ranging to the same object (the far wall of the exhibit hall), and were within one yard of each other. Several of the models took into account the elevation angle, showing both the actual range and the range that one should set one’s sights at when shooting at that angle. Very neat.

A few of the Leupold scopes also had illuminated reticles, and several of those went to eleven¹.

After Leupold, we briefly stopped by the Dillon booth and ogled their progressive presses. Alas, while we were doing so, 5:00pm rolled around, and an announcement was made that the annual meeting was over, and would people please make their way to the exits.

In conclusion, while I didn’t get to see any of the various meetings and presentations made by the NRA (with the exception of the one on Jeff Cooper, who was a truly amazing man), I did get to meet with several of the vendor reps, get some information about new products they were offering, handle many of their products, met with a bunch of gunbloggers, and generally had a great time.

I’m not sure if I’ll be able to make next year’s annual meeting and Blog Bash, but I’ll definitely make an effort to do so.

1. From This is Spinal Tap.

For all the progessive gun laws that Arizona has¹, it has a major flaw: at present, it is prohibited for a person to carry a firearm (even if they have a permit to carry concealed) into any establishment that is licensed to sell alcohol for on-premises consumption, even if the person does not drink and even if the sale of alcoholic beverages is temporarily suspended.

While I enjoy a good drink and finely-crafted guns, I strongly believe that drinking and the carriage of firearms should not be done at the same time. Much like drinking and driving, doing so is irresponsible.

That said, I see no reason why I (or any other law-abiding person) should have to disarm simply becuase I wish to enter an establishment that serves alcohol. As the law stands now, I’m prohibited from carrying when I go to Chili’s, even if I’m just there for a burger and soda with friends. If I’m walking around armed, as is my custom, I am forbidden from entering establishments like Chipotle for a burrito simply because they offer bottled beer.

This issue was a concern for the Phoenix Convention Center, as the center has a liquor license. Fortunately, they were able to successfully petition the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control for a temporary suspension of the liquor license in most areas of the event, thus allowing private citizens to legally carry guns around the event.

Certain functions at the event, such as the member banquet, served alcohol. In these places, the NRA maintained a gun-check station and allowed people to securely stow their arms prior to entering the restricted area. However, members who wished to eat at several of the nearby restaraunts were unable to do so, as many of them served alcohol. This was an issue for myself and a few other gunbloggers when we went out for lunch on Saturday and Sunday.

I’ve written to my state officials to encourage them to change the law so that people can legally carry in restaraunts so long as they don’t drink. I urge you to do the same.

1. Most notably the fact that open carry is legal in most places without any permit being necessary.

The crowds were slightly less at the Glock booth today, so I was able to get my hands on one of the 4th Generation “fish gill” Glock pistols and a few minutes of time from some of the Glock employees.

According to the reps, all the internals are the same. Existing replacement and aftermarket parts will fit 4th Generation pistols.

New Slide Serrations

When asked why Glock changed the rear serrations from the previous straight lines to the new, curved design, one employee answered unofficially, “it’s high-speed, low drag”¹

Another employee mentioned that the previous serrations went all the way from the top of the slide to the bottom, and so the steel at the bottom of of each serration was thinner. He had personally seen two previous Glock pistols, each used by extremely heavy users (100,000+ rounds out of each), suffer failures at the base of the serrations where the slide bent outwards. The “fish gill” serrations stop a millimeter or two above the base of the slide, leaving the base of the slide thicker and thus stronger. This is obvious in the below photograph that shows both the old and new serrations:

Textured Grips

The 4th Generation pistols also sport a new texture on the grip:

This texture consists of numerous tiny polygonal² nubs on the backstrap, sides, and finger grooves of the pistol, rather than the larger, blockier nubs found on the backstrap and finger grooves of previous generations of Glock pistols.

While previous generations had textured panels on the grips, the new texture is considerably more “aggressive”³ than the previous texture. I’m inclined to agree, but feel that the new texture is extremely uncomfortable — the grips feel extremely abrasive, and I find the gun uncomfortable to hold with a firm grip. I’m also concerned with the gun gripping clothing, making concealment more difficult. Abrasion of clothing is another concern voiced by some readers.

A member of Pennsylvania Firearm Owners Association (I’m terrible with names, so I apologize for forgetting!) was walking around with Louis and I, and mentioned to the employee his concern about the possibility of the new texture irritating the skin on one’s waist when carrying the gun in an IWB holster.

It’s possible to make things “grippy” without making them feel like sandpaper: Hogue aftermarket grips are extremely comfortable and grippy without being hard on one’s hands. I doubt Glock would be able to integrate both the ordinary plastic used in their frames with Hogue-type rubber panels in a single molded piece, but I feel that’d be a better option than the new texture.

According to one of the reps, the texture becomes less “aggressive” over time, while still retaining its gripping ability.

Glock had small survey cards where they asked people’s opinion of the new serrations and texture. I indicated that I preferred the previous textures as they were more comfortable, and the previous serrations (though I wouldn’t mind if they stopped the serrations above the base of the slide, so as to strengthen it) due to their more utilitarian appearance, ease of gripping, and ease of cleaning.

Magazines

I inquired about the notch on the front of magazines shipped with current, non-4th-Generation Glock pistols. My understanding that the notch was designed to allow for an ambidextrous magazine release was confirmed, though the pistols equipped with such a release⁴  are not terribly popular in the US for a few reasons, most notably because many holsters fit the pistols in such a way that they depress the ambidextrous mag release.

This issue results in the magazine being released when the pistol is reholstered. According to the reps, this is a problem with the holster makers, not with Glock — the design of the pistols is such that it is not possible for Glock to include an ambidextrous magazine release that doesn’t get pushed by most current holsters. In order for them to do so, the holster manufacturers would need to slightly redesign their holsters.

Additionally, one of the new models has a standard 1913 Picatinny rail, but this fits poorly with existing holsters due to the width of the rail. The models with the proprietary “Glock Rail” do not suffer this problem as the rail is smaller, but such models are still uncommon due to the mag-dumping-when-holstered issue.

None of the models on display at the booth were the “SF” models equipped with the ambidextrous magazine release, though they were selling various items like hats, shirts, and R. Lee Ermey⁵ action figures. The Gunny himself was present for a few days for handshakes, autographs, and pictures, though the line to see him was quite long. In overhearing his conversations with people, he seems like a decent guy; Mr. Ermey, if you happen to be reading this post and are in the Tucson area, please allow me to treat you to a drink.

1. In short, it’s new and shiny. People like new and shiny things.
2. According to the employee.
3. Quoting one of the reps.
4. The G20, 21, 29, and 30 “SF” models.
5. Who, among his numerous other achievements and positions, is a Glock spokesman.

1. The MSRP is $1995. Why so much? ARs are commonly available in the $800-$1,200 range.

Other piston-driven ARs are considerably more expensive, often starting at more than $2,500. An MSRP of less than $2,000 for a piston-driven AR from a reputable manufacturer is quite a bit more affordable than other similar guns.

The SR-556 was made to compete with HK 416s and Sig 556s, not common gas-driven ARs.

2. Do you intend to offer the SR-556 in other calibers, specifically .204 Ruger and 6.8 SPC?

Ruger is a publicly-traded company, which limits what we can disclose at this time.

3. Is the SR-556 upper and lower receivers compatible with other upper/lower receivers.

Our upper receiver will fit on mil-spec lowers, and mil-spec uppers will fit on our lower receiver. The SR-556 takes standard STANAG/M16 magazines.

4. Does Ruger intend to sell just the upper receivers to those who already have mil-spec lowers and want a piston-driven upper?

Not at the moment. Again, we’re a publicly-traded company and so cannot disclose certain things.

5. One reader mentioned that he shoots blackpowder .223 loads from his current AR. I have no idea why he does this, but he wanted to know if it was possible to do the same with the SR-556.

[hearty laugh] Honestly, I’ve never heard of anyone doing such a thing, and so cannot say if it’s possible or not.

6. Is the SR-556 compatible with registered Drop-In Auto Sears?

Not from the factory, no.

(At this point I asked him if I could look inside the lower, though he asked that we not take pictures of it. It had the standard cut-out at the rear of the lower where a DIAS would normally go, but without measuring equipment I was unable to tell if it was the proper size or not. Some machining may be required, but it doesn’t look like Ruger went out of their way to make DIAS installation difficult. Basically it looks like any ordinary lower one would buy from other manufacturers.)

7. Any plans for a longer-barreled target version?

No comment.

8. Any plans for a ban-compliant version that could be sold in California, Massachusetts, etc.?

This is something that Ruger could theoretically do, but I have no further comment on the topic at this time.

At this point, other people were clamoring for his attention and I felt like I had occupied enough of his time, so I thanked him and wished him a good day.¹

1. I feel guilty for wasting people’s time. Does this make me a bad journalist?

To be honest, I was pleasantly surprised with the NRA’s treatment of bloggers — they had a sizable press room, free snacks, coffee, and sodas, multiple big-screen TVs tuned into various news channels (including the occasional live feed from NRA events at the meeting), a small screened-off speaking area with a podium and chairs, and a few large tables for people to sit, write on their laptops (many power outlets were provided), and free wi-fi access. While we bloggers would have written about the meeting anyway, it was nice that they were so friendly and welcoming to us.

Many of the other bloggers were off sitting in on meetings and other events, so Louis and I took to the floor. As we descended the stairs to the exhibit hall, we were taken aback by the huge crowds, a small glimpse of who are displayed here:

Those crowds were simply people waiting to get into the exhibit halls, either as existing NRA members who needed to get an entry sticker or people seeking new membership to enter. There were several such counters, each with similar numbers of people lined up at each.

Equipped with our media passes (and openly-carried firearms), we went forth to the exhibit floor¹.

Now, I’ve been to gun shows before and I’ve been to various expos², but I’ve never seen anything this big before. There were thousands of people milling around the vast, interconnected, underground halls. Essentially all the major (and most of the minor) makers of guns, ammo, and accessories were present, including names like Bushmaster, Federal Cartridge, Barrett, Armalite, Ruger, S&W, Glock, Taurus, Dillon, CZ, Springfield Armory, Henry, Marlin, Blackhawk, Winchester, Browning, Leupold, US Optics and many more. Representatives from MidwayUSA, GunsAmerica, and other vendors were present, with several booths selling various items (holsters, gun lubricants, etc.) in addition to showing off their latest wares. Companies like Kawasaki and Yamaha had many of their ATVs, generators, and other outdoor power equipment on display.

In addition to the core group of manufacturers, vendors, and dealers, there were also booths manned by other organizations: safari expedition companies, collectors associations, small-time restorers of classic arms, and so on.

Surprisingly, I didn’t find a single vendor selling beef jerky.

Lest the NRA be thought of as the old fuddy-duddy of the gun-rights movement, concerned only with hunting and sporting uses of arms, the first booth we saw on the exhibit floor had an M240 medium machine gun as well as the very cool AR-FiveSeven:

While I can’t really see the utility of it (the AR-FiveSeven is chambered in 5.7x28mm, and basically turns an already-expensive .22 into an even-more-expensive .22), the rifle is surprisingly compact, has a Brady-scaring mag capacity of 50 rounds (it uses P90 mags and ejects empties out the magwell on the bottom), and looks fun to shoot.

ArmaLite had an AR-50 out on display, and this seemed to get a fair bit of attention from passers-by, including your humble scribe:

(While it certainly looks dangerous to be pointing a gun at other people, all the guns on display were unloaded, disabled (often having the firing pins removed, lest someone bring their own ammo), and otherwise rendered safe. Even so, Louis and I followed the four rules as best we could, and checked all guns prior to handling.)

Barrett had their much-lusted-for M82A1 out on display:

(Note: When aimed in such a position, one cannot remove or insert the 10-round magazine without lifting the butt of the rifle. I’d imagine this would be problematic for people using their M82 for Serious Purposes(tm) out in the field. Anyone have any experience with real-world mag changes with such a rifle?)

All the Barrett rifles sported very nice scopes with Barrett’s scope-mounted ballistic computer. Alas, I was dismayed to discover that the computer displays information on a small LCD panel, but does not include any in-scope display. I suppose that would be challenging, with the sealed, weatherproof nature of modern riflescopes. Perhaps my hopes were set too high?

Most of Barrett’s offerings were chambered in .50 BMG, but they had a few guns in .338 Lapua, which isn’t exactly the least-spendy loading around:

I’d really like to see them release a rifle in something a bit more affordable, like .308, so that Mere Mortals like myself can afford to buy and shoot their rifles.

A stop by the Ruger booth revealed the LCP, which I had read about before but never seen in person:

I have fairly normal-sized hands, and that gun was miniscule. Louis has somewhat bulkier hands and shorter fingers, and was only able to get a one-and-a-half finger grip on the tiny pistol. Even so, it packs a bit of a wallop with .380 (good luck finding any these days!). I’d imagine that the recoil out of such a small gun would be rather harsh.

I’ve been a fan of Ruger revolvers for some time, but had never gotten into their autoloaders: they always seemed rather bulky and unwieldy to me. The SR9, however, fit my hand rather well, and seemed to be well-made³ If I were in the market for a new handgun in the future, this gun would be on my shortlist.

I’ve been out of touch for a few days due to classes and exams, and so I had hear rumors⁴ that Ruger was going to release a new AR variant at the show, and was looking forward to it. At first, I didn’t see the new gun, as it wasn’t visible from the middle of the Ruger cluster of displays.

As I prepared to move on to the next booth, I decided to walk around the outside of their displays, and there saw this:

(While it might look like the man on the right was bowing, he was simply looking down at the moment.)

The Ruger rep was extolling the virtues of the new rifle, which evidently include a short-stroke gas piston, adjustable gas knob, chromed bolt carrier, full-length Troy rails, three 30-round Magpul PMags, a six-position adjustable stock, and some nifty flip-up iron sights. He was also sporting a rather dashing moustache:

They had a few SR-556s that they were passing around for people to inspect and handle. The build quality seemed good, and the rubber rail covers were a welcome relief from the uncovered, sharp four-rail handguards found on many of the other vendor’s AR-type guns. While my visit today was brief, I returned on Sunday to ask the Ruger reps a few more questions (more in a following post).

Federal Cartridge has released commercial .30-06 and .308 ammunition that meets the exacting specs required for the M1 Garand and M14/M1A rifles. While I couldn’t find this product on their website, I find it refreshing that a manufacturer is thinking about us M1 shooters — military surplus M2 Ball has been drying up (though I hear the CMP still has a bunch) and I’ve been switching to reloading where possible, but lack the time to make as much as I want. If I can find this stuff locally at a reasonable price, I’ll be very happy indeed.

HK’s impressive display included a rack of full-auto stuff not available to mere mortalsthe public:

Such guns included the MP5K, MP5SD, G36C, and MP7. Much drooling ensued until we moved over to the more mundane side of their booth, where they displayed their HK 416 (whee, another expensive, piston-driven AR clone!) and their wide array of rifles and handguns:

Lunchtime arrived, and we met up with Eric from Handgun Podcast some a few of his cohorts and grabbed some pizza at a shop near the convention center. Many thanks to Eric for buying lunch — next time we meet up, lunch is on me.

Despite the huge crowds inside, the area immediately outside the convention center was surprisingly devoid of crowds — a few people walked here and there, but there was no crushing swarms of people. Traffic was also rather light, which was also unusual for such a huge event. Evidently the folks who designed the area surrounding the convention center did a good job at tackling the issues with vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

After lunch, Louis and I headed back inside and started up where we left off — Mossberg’s booth had a variety of neat things, including their yellow-clad shotgun:

Presumably the yellow shotgun would be used for shooting the Taser XREP 12-gauge Slug of Shocking (+3), and is a different color to not be confused with shotguns loaded with lethal ammo⁵. In the event that a Taser-launching shotgun⁶ was insufficient, a rail on the pump mounted another Taser just in case. Surprisingly, the rail and mounted Taser didn’t interfere with gripping the pump as much as I thought it would.

They also had their absolutely absurd-looking Rolling Thunder shotgun, which is just a Model 500 equipped with an enormous muzzle brake. Seriously, this thing looks like it could be used to launch flares or throw lines from ship to ship. I honestly see no real purpose for such an attachment — they already had shotguns with impractically-large Barrett-style muzzle brakes⁷ and pointy, mean-looking breaching attachments, why bother with a huge, cylindrical brake?

A constant, satisfying “clack-clack” sound was heard around their booth. Surprisingly, no bowels were voided in the vicinity of the booth, leading me to question the age-old myth that racking a shotgun will instantly scare away people. Perhaps more extensive testing (preferably in an easily-cleaned chamber, just in case the myth has some truth to it) is needed?

FN’s P90/PS90 display was swarmed with people, and we weren’t able to get close. We did, however, manage to get our mitts on the FNAR⁸, which looks rather nifty:

It’s a magazine-fed, semi-auto rifle chambered in .308. This particular model was the heavy-barreled model, and it was quite heavy indeed. When held, it felt considerably heavier than an M1A. According to the FN website, these rifles must shoot better than 1 MOA to pass inspection. Comments on other blogs indicate a retail price of about $1,400, which is not unreasonable for a high-quality .308 rifle from a reputable manufacture. No idea on magazine prices or availability, though — it appears that they take proprietary mags. Ergonomics are good. Assuming the descriptions of accuracy are accurate (pun very much intended), this gun makes the short list.

Springfield had several of their XD-M pistols on display, but I honestly couldn’t figure out how they differed from my XD. They changed some textures around, but they look similar from the exterior. I also go to play withhandle an M1A SOCOM II, Springfield’s compact M1A:

According to other folks at the display, the shorter barrel makes this gun a bit of a fire-breather. While no doubt a fine rifle, the balance seemed a bit off. Perhaps I’m used to longer rifles like the M1?

Taurus had a huge, curving display with all of their handgun models shown:

I had no idea they produced so many different pistols, but they were all up on display. I’d not yet handled a PT1911, but they look promising (particularly for lefties like myself) and affordable, so I may have to put one on the list.

DSA had a bunch of their FALs on racks, and I got to handle one for the first time:

Unfortunately, these rails didn’t have rubber covers on them, and the edges of the aluminum rails dug uncomfortably into my hand. The pistol grip on FALs has always looked strange to me, but was quite comfortable in person. Assuming I get rubber rail covers, this one’s going on my list.

Around this time, my fiancee Sarah (hi honey!) arrived. After giving her the guest pass that the NRA thoughtfully provided at no cost, I tried to convince her that adding an AR-50 to the wedding registry would be a good idea:

She was less than convinced.

Evidently she’s under the impression that a new couple’s anti-matériel needs are evidently not as pressing as their needs for new cookware, pillowcases, and the like. Of course, we already have such things, why should we bother with more pots and pans were there’s a notable gap in the safe?

A quick stop by the CZ booth resulted in my gun-want-o-meter getting pegged high when I saw a left-handed CZ 452 American .22LR rifle:

My local shop rarely has CZ products, and never lefty versions. They also had the 16″, pre-threaded barrel version, but this is available only in right-handed models⁹.

Our feet were hurting after several hours on the exhibit hall floor, so we stopped by the press office, bid good night to the other bloggers there, and went to dinner near Sarah’s place in a nearby suburb of Phoenix.

The night was spent sorting through pictures and notes and prepping ourselves for the next day.

Below is a slideshow containing all the pictures that turned out reasonably well:

1. Observation: While of the people present were white males, the full spectrum of humanity was represented at the event. People all of colors, shapes, and sizes were perusing the exhibits, a few of whom were also openly carrying holstered firearms as they went about their business. Truly, this was a diverse event.
2. MacWorld, mostly.
3. Recall notwithstanding.
4. It turns out that other bloggers had been invited for the unveiling of the display before the show opened to the public, but I hadn’t checked my feed reader in some time, and was unaware.
5. Not to mention the options for color-coordinating!
6. Of course, it could fire ordinary 12ga ammo as well.
7. Massive brakes on huge guns like the M82 and AR-50 are fine, but they look really out of place on shotguns.
8. Which has an exceedingly Scandanavian-sounding name when spoken as a word, rather than as Eff-En-Ay-Arr. We were very amused by the name, and repeated it often.
9. A visit on Sunday to the booth revealed that CZ-USA’s custom shop is able to take the left-handed receiver and stock and mate it to the threaded, 16″ barrel and deliver it to my local FFL. They gave me a card with contact information in case I wanted to see how much such a gun would cost.

Is there anything in particular that my gentle readers wish for me to ask the exhibitors? Technical questions about Ruger’s SR-556? Should I let them know that the copyright notice on the bottom of their page incorrectly spells “Sturm” as “Strum”? Ask the HK folks if they might bring civilian-legal semi-auto (but still NFA-restricted) SBR versions of popular guns like the MP5¹ or G36?

You name it (within in reasonable bounds of polite conversation, of course) and I’ll ask it and post the response here. I’ll be checking my email and comments throughout the day.

For reference, a list of vendors and exhibitors is available here.

1. I know I’d love to get my hands on a semi-auto MP5K, or possibly a two-tax semi-auto, SBR, suppressed MP5SD.

• Met a few other gunbloggers.
• Perused the exhibits.
• Have sore feet from walking all bloody day.
• Trying to convince The Girl(tm) that we should put a Barrett M82A1 on the wedding registry is surprisingly difficult. She wants stuff like dishes, bedsheets, and so on. Who knew? Maybe an AR-50? I’ll keep trying.
• I’ve got a bunch of pictures from the day that I need to sort through. For the time being, enjoy this one:

If anyone wants to meet up, please feel free to contact me by email and I’ll be glad to provide my cell number so we can link up at the meeting.

Interesting note: according to the NRA, lawful carriage of firearms is allowed at the entire event and exhibit hall, with the exception of events where alcohol is served (such as the banquets). Since I don’t intend to attend such banquets, I’ll be carrying.

Other interesting note: The NRA has been running ads on various electronic billboards (I didn’t see any physical boards, just the electronic ones) around the Phoenix metro area. I find it fantastic that they’re running billboards for the general public, and that there’s not some media or public backlash (at least I haven’t heard or seen any).

Hope to see everyone there!

I should be there on Saturday and Sunday, though.

I’ve gotten some registration material from the NRA, but just want to confirm: is the annual meeting free for existing members (I’m a Life Member), or need one pay some sort of cover charge to get into the exhibit halls? I figure one needs to pay extra for the banquets and whatnot, but I’d hope the exhibit halls would be free for members. Can anyone confirm or deny this?