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Another one falls to the ‘Rona. 2020 has been rife with event cancellations due to the imposition of gathering restrictions over health concerns, and we all hoped it would be long done by now, but unfortunately there doesn’t yet appear to be much light at the end of the tunnel. Already this year we’ve lost the NRA Annual Meeting, TriggrCon, Enforce Tac, the NASGW Wholesaler Expo, the Knob Creek and Big Sandy machine gun shoots, numerous competition matches, and many more. Now the NRA’s 2021 Great American Outdoor Show, which was set for February 6th-14th in Pennsylvania, is also getting the axe. They announced the cancellation with the following press release.
In normal years, the NRA GAOS features shooting-related fun for the whole family.
Pennsylvania COVID Restrictions Prevent NRA’s Great American Outdoor Show for 2021
HARRISBURG, PA – To the great disappointment of tens of thousands of sportsmen and women, COVID-related governmental restrictions in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will prevent the 2021 Great American Outdoor Show from being held as scheduled on February 6-14, 2021.
Since the NRA created the Great American Outdoor Show in 2014, the show has been a much-anticipated annual event and a major boon for the state and local economy. More than 1,100 exhibitors and tens of thousands of people from Pennsylvania and indeed around the country and globe would converge on the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex each year contributing approximately $75 million to area businesses and state coffers, according to official local estimates.
The NRA will certainly miss the opportunity to celebrate America’s great firearm, hunting, fishing and outdoor heritage, but we look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones at the Great American Outdoor Show scheduled to be held February 5 – 13, 2022.
Unfortunately, this scene from last year’s NRA GAOS will have to wait another year to be repeated.
When will it all end? At this juncture, it’s pretty much anyone’s guess. If these ongoing disruptions have you feeling frustrated and you’d like to take out your aggression on some Covid-shaped steel targets, MK Machining still has them available as of the time of this writing. Although 2020’s weirdness has come with some silver lining benefits like a significant surge in gun ownership, and particularly in first-time gun buyers joining the fold, it’s probably fair to say that the vast majority of us are just ready to get back to business as usual. It will be a relief when these meetings and conventions, as well as our other favorite shooting activities, can finally go back to normal. The big question mark in many gun people’s minds currently has to be SHOT Show 2021 coming up in January. For now, it’s still on – with some caveats and modifications, such as masks – but given the fluidity of Nevada’s restrictions, the situation seems tenuous at best. Here’s hoping! See you at the range.
