If you haven’t read it already, I highly recommend you read Alex Miceli’s feature from last Thursday’s edition, Watching and Waiting at NASGW. The prevailing theme at the NASGW Expo in Kansas City was that the current market is slow.

It wasn’t gloom and doom, and certainly not the ‘Malaise 2.0’ that the current administration has provided us in its tribute to the Carter Administration. It was more of a feeling of trepidation. Even that might be too strong a descriptor.

Let’s call it a sense of caution, waiting for the economy to turn up and consumer buying power to return.

But that wasn’t the mood across the entire show floor. I spoke to a couple companies that were currently seeing solid, if not strong, sales.

I visited with Mike Hoffman of Reptilia, a firearm accessories company I was not previously familiar with.

Reptilia, which is headquartered in North Carolina and manufactures here in the U.S., only entered the market back in 2017. They are a young company that hasn’t seen the peaks and valleys of the market like those companies that are decades or even centuries old and have worked trough any number of downturns.

Mike explained that this past summer was very slow for them, but thanks to their mix of OEM business, commercial business, some direct-to-consumer sales, and strong military business, Reptilia has weathered the 2024 storm.

Mike attributes their success to the company’s design philosophy of making products that are driven by customer requests. Coming to market with quality products that solve customers’ problems is one way to always remain relevant to consumers.

Another accessories company I spoke to was seeing a solid year of sales, however this one is a brand many are very familiar with.

TAPCO is a brand that has many long-time users but only recently – about 18 months ago – went through a major rebranding to help the company appeal to younger consumers. The rebranding includes a new logo and color scheme, which is what I immediately noticed on the floor, and all new packaging.

The new packaging is the kind of thing that dealers know consumers can respond to, especially those younger buyers unfamiliar with the history of the TAPCO brand.

One exhibitor on the floor was not worried about surviving 2024. They were just getting started here in the United States.

Mendoza Firearms, the newly formed U.S. arm of Productos Mendoza of Mexico, was showcasing their semi-auto .22LR rifles that would very soon be shipping to distributors and dealers here in the U.S.

If you are not familiar with Productos Mendoza don’t feel bad. I never heard of them either but the company has a long history of manufacturing firearms that dates back to 1911.

The new U.S.-based Mendoza Firearms represents Productos Mendoza‘s first entry into the U.S., though they have made airguns for other very familiar companies under the brands of those particular companies.

It will be good visit with them at SHOT Show and again at the 2025 NASGW Expo to track their progress.

Of course, there’s that one segment that seems to be going full steam ahead, and it’s the Turkish-made firearms. This is a growing category/segment of the firearm industry. Nearly every aisle at NASGW seemed to have at least one firearm on display that was stamped made in Türkiye.

The Turkish makers are so omni-present at the show that I was approached in front of the Ed Brown booth by one young woman from Turkey that was there drumming up business for her family’s operation in the Konya Province.

I fell on my sword for my good friend Dave Biggers and explained to her that Ed Brown manufactures high-end, American made pistols and was not likely to be a U.S. partner for her company.

One has to appreciate the drive to expand in the U.S. market that the Turkish makers have. They’re clearly willing to leave no stone unturned to sell more guns in America. And it’s clear by their persistence that U.S. consumers are very receptive to these imports.

There wasn’t an overwhelming feeling of optimism, but it was certainly there scattered around the show. However, there’s always a reality check waiting around any corner, and I found it.

The one sobering conversation that really hit home with me came when I spoke to Jordan Young, CEO of Global Defense. His import/export company faced head-on the executive order attacks of the Biden Administration.

When I asked him about it, Jordan summed it up better than anybody I’ve spoken to thus far. Jordan said “their aim is to do damage.” In its purest form the politics is designed to harm the industry more than help any group or solve any problem.

It’s a damning statement, and when I asked Jordan if he wanted me to quote “a source” he simply told me no because it’s nothing he hasn’t said directly to the regulators.

What do we expect going forward? Difficult to tell but we can assume those that have been here before know the way out of the slump, while those that are new may see troubles. And for some, there will be plenty of stand and fight…depending on how the election goes.

— Paul Erhardt, Managing Editor of the Outdoor Wire Digital Network