SHOT Show, the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show, is the firearms industry’s biggest week of the year. Run by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, it fills the Venetian Expo in Las Vegas every January with manufacturers, distributors, retailers, ranges, law enforcement buyers and media. It is a trade show, so it is not open to the public.
The Gun Websites crew has been at every SHOT Show since 2005, missing only 2021, when the show was canceled. Every year has its own page with photos, the guns and gear, patches, what the crew ate, and the videos.
SHOT Show at a Glance
| Held Since | 1979 |
|---|---|
| Where | Venetian Expo (formerly Sands Expo), Las Vegas, Nevada |
| When | Every January |
| Run By | National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) |
| Who Can Attend | Industry, retailers, law enforcement and media only |
| Gun Websites Coverage | Every show since 2005, 21 in a row |
Every SHOT Show We Covered
Pick a year to see the photos, guns, gear and videos from that show.
About SHOT Show
SHOT stands for Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade. The show brings the companies that make guns, ammunition, optics, knives and outdoor gear together with the people who sell and use them for a living: gun shops, sporting goods stores, shooting ranges, distributors and law enforcement agencies. Retailers place their orders for the coming year, manufacturers launch new products, and the media gets its first hands-on look at them.
SHOT Show is a trade-only event. It is not open to the public, and every attendee must work in the industry, in law enforcement or in the media. The official site is shotshow.org.
SHOT Show by the Numbers
| First Show | 1979, St. Louis, Missouri, 5,600 attendees |
|---|---|
| Shows Held | 47 through 2026 (no show in 2021) |
| Home Since 2010 | Venetian Expo (formerly Sands Expo), Las Vegas |
| Exhibitors | About 1,600 |
| Show Floor | About 600,000 square feet |
| Attendance | About 62,000 industry professionals |
| Visitors From | All 50 states and more than 100 countries |
Where SHOT Show Has Been Held
For its first three decades SHOT Show moved between host cities, from St. Louis and San Francisco to Dallas, New Orleans, Atlanta, Houston and Orlando. It settled in Las Vegas full time in 2010 and has been there every year since.
| Host City | Shows | First | Most Recent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Las Vegas, Nevada | 27 | 1988 | 2026 |
| Dallas, Texas | 6 | 1983 | 1996 |
| New Orleans, Louisiana | 4 | 1981 | 2001 |
| Atlanta, Georgia | 3 | 1982 | 1999 |
| Orlando, Florida | 3 | 2003 | 2009 |
| Houston, Texas | 2 | 1986 | 1993 |
| St. Louis, Missouri | 1 | 1979 | 1979 |
| San Francisco, California | 1 | 1980 | 1980 |
SHOT Show Through the Years
A few views of the show floor from the early years of Gun Websites coverage. Every year has its own page in the year grid above.
SHOT Show Attendance, 1979 to 2004
Attendance figures for the shows before the Gun Websites crew began covering SHOT Show in 2005. The show grew from 5,600 attendees in its first year to more than 33,000 by 2004.
| Year | City | Attendees |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | St. Louis, Missouri | 5,600 |
| 1980 | San Francisco, California | 8,500 |
| 1981 | New Orleans, Louisiana | 17,800 |
| 1982 | Atlanta, Georgia | 17,850 |
| 1983 | Dallas, Texas | 20,000 |
| 1984 | Dallas, Texas | 22,000 |
| 1985 | Atlanta, Georgia | 19,200 |
| 1986 | Houston, Texas | 20,950 |
| 1987 | New Orleans, Louisiana | 19,500 |
| 1988 | Las Vegas, Nevada | 19,800 |
| 1989 | Dallas, Texas | 23,500 |
| 1990 | Las Vegas, Nevada | 23,523 |
| 1991 | Dallas, Texas | 25,525 |
| 1992 | New Orleans, Louisiana | 23,262 |
| 1993 | Houston, Texas | 25,030 |
| 1994 | Dallas, Texas | 27,800 |
| 1995 | Las Vegas, Nevada | 29,600 |
| 1996 | Dallas, Texas | 28,500 |
| 1997 | Las Vegas, Nevada | 35,102 |
| 1998 | Las Vegas, Nevada | 32,759 |
| 1999 | Atlanta, Georgia | 25,814 |
| 2000 | Las Vegas, Nevada | 29,607 |
| 2001 | New Orleans, Louisiana | 25,496 |
| 2002 | Las Vegas, Nevada | 31,342 |
| 2003 | Orlando, Florida | 27,494 |
| 2004 | Las Vegas, Nevada | 33,264 |
SHOT Show on Video
SHOT Show 2026 Range Day from a Camera Drone
Robots of SHOT Show 2026
SHOT Show 2025 Walking Audio Tour
Kalashnikovs at SHOT Show
SHOT Show returns to Las Vegas every January. Upcoming dates are on the Gun Show Calendar, and more photos from every show are on the Gun Show Photos page.