The first Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show I attended was in Dallas in 1989. It was a big show then and has only gotten bigger. Frankly it verges on being too big. It has gone from three days to four, and even so I have to plan carefully and do a lot of walking to cover what I need to see.

The firearms industry is an interesting one. It is affected by the same factors as affect other consumer goods such as cameras and skis — the state of the economy, employment levels, consumer confidence and the availability of credit.

It is also affected by unique factors such as firearms legislation. The computer revolution has affected the firearms industry only indirectly. There has not been anything like the effect on (for example) the photographic industry where one type of technology (chemical, as in film) has been overwhelmed by an entirely new technology (digital).

Certainly there has been an impact, notably in manufacturing. Computer assisted design (CAD) and computer numeric controlled (CNC) production means components can be fabricated to extremely close tolerances and marketed at relatively low cost. But the firearm’s technology is the same. It still involves using an explosive to ignite a combustible solid and using the expanding gases to accelerate a bullet down a tube. Ray guns still seem a long ways away.