A venture that has been talked about for some time now, is set to launch on January 20th, during SHOT this upcoming year. GunTV is going to be a 24/7 live auction channel where viewers can call in (maybe an online process as well?) and place bids on firearms on the TV screen. Winners will then go through a distributer called Sports South in Louisiana, where the actual firearms will be shipped out from, to their respective dealers and FFLs, where the typical NICS checks and forms will be filled out. The Social Responsibility Network will be hosting it as well. It also seems that it will have a presentation component where there will be various programs about training, firearms safety, and other such topics in between programming. Other products will be auctioned as well, that are not firearms: camping gear, concealed carry equipment, range gear, etc…

In theory it sounds like a neat and interesting idea. But its actual implantation among gun owners seems a little tricky to me. Because firearms are such a broad field, most of the really successful auctions like Rock Island Auction company and James D. Julia cater to a very specific crowd, that of historical or collectible firearms. Which goes back to gun owners in general are usually very picky when it comes to our purchases, we want a very specific firearm to suite our interests. So if for instance I’m a early Colt collector, I would probably have to wait a long time or even miss episodes of the live auction that have to do with my interest because of timing issues. Either way, I’m sure they’ll make programming conducive for their viewership.

Created by Doug Bornstein and Valerie Castle—both of whom previously worked for home shopping networks—the new channel, named GunTV, is scheduled to launch on January 20, during the gun industry’s annual multi-day SHOT Show in Las Vegas. It will go live via national satellite and cable TV providers and eventually air 24 hours a day.