NRA Annual Meeting 2012 - Worth it?

[icepik125]

I will be attending a conference in St. Louis on April 13th for work. It just so happens that the NRA annual meeting "show" will be going on literally right next door. I'm thinking about staying an extra day and going to the show. Has anyone ever been to one? Is it worth going to?

Mods: I wasn't sure if this should be in the "gun shows" forum. Please move if appropriate.

 

[Nicole]

Adam and I went last year and enjoyed it. Most if the stuff isn't for sale there, but if you like looking at all the cool toys and are happy to only pull out the wallet for tshirts and whatnot, you'll have a blast. Check out the events schedule...they usually have a line-up of interesting people & topics if that is something you would enjoy.

 

[EC1]

I've been to several NRA Annual Meetings. Well worth the time spent, you'll get to hold virtually any gun you want, dry fire it and see if you like the feel and trigger pull including those that mother MA won't let you buy from a dealer. If you're interested in hunting there are a large number of outfitters there too. Some interesting people around, I met Ollie North and Ted Nugent in Pittsburgh. All in all a very good 4 days that I spent in Pittsburgh.

 

[ntomsw]

I went last year and met up with my best friend from Michigan. It was a lot of fun. As Nicole said, most stuff is not for sale. You can buy certain things. Galco had a holster booth with stuff for sale I believe, I got some vaquero grips, and a couple t shirts. The actual NRA store is there with there HUGE booth with tons of stuff for sale, and of course you walk out with TONS of free stuff/swag. Books, catalogs, stickers, posters, etc etc. You can also hold virtually anything you want that is made, and see some they debut. Ruger debuted their SR1911 there last year. It's very cool, and the road trip to meet up with my best friend was cool.

 

[icepik125]

I appreciate all your input. Sounds like its worth going to check out. Report will follow.