Thousands of gun makers and sellers will descend on Las Vegas next week for the 2026 Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show hosted by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the gun industry’s trade association. The annual trade show — the largest of its kind, open only to industry insiders — gives gun manufacturers and importers an opportunity to showcase their new products to wholesalers, dealers, and gun media outlets while celebrating last year’s sales with parties and mixers.
The show is held every year just 2 miles from the scene of the Route 91 Harvest music festival mass shooting in Las Vegas — the deadliest in modern U.S. history — which was carried out by a gunman armed with an arsenal of AR-15s equipped with high-capacity magazines and bump stocks. Many of his guns and accessories debuted at prior SHOT Shows.
While gun sales have slowed under President Trump, his administration has dramatically reduced industry oversight and chipped away at federal gun regulations. Gun makers are already capitalizing on those policy changes, and the 2026 SHOT Show’s “13.9 miles of aisles” will likely be packed with more deadly products that jeopardize communities across the country.
SHOT SHOW 2026 EXHIBITORS
At least 100 companies on the 2026 SHOT Show exhibitor list — including Bushmaster, Century Arms, Daniel Defense, FN, Palmetto State Armory, Ruger, and Smith & Wesson, among dozens of others — produce or import assault weapons for civilians, including AR-15s and AK-47s, that have been used in the country’s deadliest mass shootings. For example:
- Daniel Defense first debuted its DDM4 V7 series of AR-15s in 2011, and the perpetrator of the Robb Elementary School mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, used a version that was introduced at the 2016 SHOT Show.
- FN unveiled its AR-15-style FN 15 rifles at the 2014 SHOT Show. Three such rifles were recovered after the Las Vegas mass shooting, and in May 2023, a gunman used another FN 15 to kill eight people and wound seven others at a shopping mall in Allen, Texas.
- Sig Sauer introduced its MCX semi-automatic rifles at the 2015 SHOT Show, and one was used in the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando the following year.
- Smith & Wesson launched its first AR-15, the M&P15, at the 2006 SHOT Show. Since then, M&P15 rifles have been used in mass shootings committed in Aurora, San Bernardino, Parkland, Poway, and Highland Park.
Many of those same exhibitors have returned to selling short-barreled AR-15s and AK-47s with arm braces in light of the Trump administration’s decision to no longer enforce a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) rule clarifying that the easily concealed weapons were short-barreled rifles subject to National Firearms Act (NFA) regulations.
At least two SHOT Show exhibitors, Franklin Armory and FosTech Outdoors, manufacture binary triggers that allow AR-15s, AK-47s, and other semi-automatic weapons to fire one shot when the trigger is pulled and another shot when it is released, effectively doubling the gun’s rate of fire. In July 2023, a gunman used an Anderson Manufacturing AR-15 with a binary trigger to ambush police officers in Fargo, North Dakota, killing one and wounding two others as well as a bystander.
Numerous exhibitors also manufacture and sell high-capacity magazines that allow shooters to fire dozens of shots before reloading, and at least two exhibitors, FN and Ohio Ordnance Works, produce semi-automatic versions of the U.S. military’s belt-fed machine guns for civilians. Similarly, FightLite Industries and KAK Industries produce belt-fed AR-15s for civilians.
Finally, several exhibitors market .22-caliber AR-15s for training new shooters, but one — Mountain Billy Gun Lab (formerly Wee1 Tactical) — is notable for producing models scaled down for children. Other exhibitors produce realistic-looking airsoft and BB replicas of firearms, including assault weapons, that may appeal to children.
The Commerce Department Returns
Another exhibitor at the 2026 SHOT Show is the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, which handles firearms export applications.
The Commerce Department had previously stopped exhibiting at the SHOT Show after a 2023 investigation found that it had helped U.S. gun makers export tens of thousands of semi-automatic weapons to “some of the most violent countries in the world,” fueling crime and political instability, by easing export restrictions and bringing thousands of international buyers to the SHOT Show.
In response, the department issued a rule in April 2024 that tightened firearms export requirements and improved oversight with the aim of curbing such abuses. But last September, the Trump administration issued a new rule undoing that framework and returning firearms exports to their pre-2024 state.
A question that hovers over the 2026 SHOT Show is whether U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will have a presence in or around the convention. Recent investigative reporting has revealed that ICE is seeking to recruit new agents by targeting “gun rights supporters” and “trade shows.”
Silencer Makers and Retailers
At least 60 silencer manufacturers and retailers will exhibit at the 2026 SHOT Show. Silencers, or sound suppressors, muffle the sound of gunfire, making it difficult for bystanders and police to identify that a gun was fired and pinpoint its source. The devices, which have been used in over 100 violent incidents and planned attacks, are also subject to NFA regulations.
But several rollbacks have made it easier for people to obtain silencers in recent years. The ATF streamlined the approval process by launching a revamped “eForms” application system in 2021 — after the NSSF lobbied for additional ATF funding. President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” also cut the $200 taxes required to make or purchase silencers, resulting in a surge in applications. And the ATF under Trump has signaled that it will stop requiring local law enforcement notification for NFA applications.
SHOT UNIVERSITY
During the SHOT Show, the NSSF will host several “SHOT University” seminars, many of which are designed to boost the gun industry’s marketing efforts. For example, the seminars will show gun makers and dealers how to use automated marketing emails and texts, “craft[] effective media pitches,” and “build[] relationships with journalists and media influencers.”
Three other seminars are dedicated to helping gun industry players use AI to create “meaningful content” and “marketing strategies” in the face of social media platforms “tightening restrictions.” But nothing is off the table. Another seminar will show gun companies how to organize community “Freedom Fests” like one held in Nebraska that mixed food trucks with gun raffles, range time, and training to thwart active shooters.
The seminar topics also shed light on what the industry sees as growth opportunities. Considering the industry’s push for more silencers, it should come as no surprise that Brandon Maddox, the CEO of Silencer Central, is holding a seminar to help gun dealers “increase silencer sales” and “capitalize on emerging market opportunities in 2026.” Another seminar will provide “concrete strategies” — beyond selling pink guns — to attract women customers, the “industry’s most underleveraged opportunity,” and “unlock[] a critical path to sustainable growth.”
In short, the gun industry is utilizing the 2026 SHOT Show to pull out all the stops to counter sluggish sales.