2023 NRA Annual Meeting Wrap-up

Here’s a weird fact the “Gun Safety” crowd and their friends in the national media don’t want you to consider: this past weekend, 77,246 people of diverse backgrounds met in the downtown of a major American city, and not a single one of them committed a robbery, shot up a school full of children or massacred a group of their co-workers. Not one.

Of course, I’m talking about the just-concluded National Rifle Association Annual Meeting, held in Indianapolis on April 14-16, 2023.

The biggest story of all was the crowd size. After a couple of years of canceled or reduced meetings, the Indianapolis event showed people were ready to come together and support the firearms industry and Second Amendment.

I personally saw four protesters, silent high-school or college-aged kids carrying hand-lettered signs which were essentially unreadable. It was nice to note everyone pretty much ignored them and treated them as earnest but delusional.

The national television news channels were also camped out across the street from the Convention Center, fawning over protesters and occasionally trying to interview any attendee who they could portray as laughable or scary.

The huge turnout occurred despite the topic of CEO Wayne LaPierre’s antics hanging overhead. In fact, I saw a couple of homemade shirts and overheard a few comments which insinuated LaPierre has an unnatural interest in farm animals, but most folks were a little more restrained in their criticism. Some variation on the statement “I support the group but not the leadership” seemed a common refrain.

Business as usual

Regardless of the marginal controversies, the crowd was huge and enthusiastic. Manufacturers and exhibitors also made a terrific showing in the 14-acre exhibition hall, and unlike recent years, many new products were unveiled.

Firearms are not sold at the show, but those selling accessories did a brisk business. One example was the Silencer Central booth, where customers were seen lined up several-deep to start the process of purchasing a snuffer. We were pleased CEO Brandon Maddox made time to speak with us on how to buy a silencer, an interview you will hear on this Friday’s episode of the GUNS Magazine podcast.

Some other items of note included the new Girsan MC14 T from EAA. This .380 full-size 13+1 defensive pistol uses a tip-up barrel and thus doesn’t require the slide to be racked to load the piece. It is a unique solution to a problem we hear about nearly every day from our readers and gives another option for those seeking a semi-auto for self-defense but have trouble running the slide due to injury, muscle weakness or arthritis.

Hot Leverage

Another interesting gun we saw, one which is attracting a lot of attention online, is the soon-to-be-released AR15 lever-action by Bond Arms. “Why?” you might ask. First and foremost, the lever action is a slick way to skirt pointless semi-auto gun bans.

Aside from the lever, the gun is pretty much “stock” AR, and you could customize, accessorize and generally trick it out to your heart’s content; after all, more than one black rifle builder has acknowledged the platform as “Tinker Toys for Adults.” Owner/inventor Gordon Bond says the interest has been overwhelming and promised GUNS would get in on the ground floor as soon as production guns are ready.

We’re also wanting to test out the new .62 caliber Hatsan Pile Driver pneumatic rifle, earning the current title of “World’s Most Powerful Airgun.” Back when I was a youngster, I dreamed of having a customized BB gun for brontosaurus hunting, and now the idea has come to fruition!

One other gun of note was the soon-to-be-released .22 LR Gatling gun from Tippman Ordnance. We had one of their 9mm guns on the cover a few years ago, and this time, the editor is “pulling rank” to review this latest gun himself. Stay tuned for a future issue for the story.