Officer.com Police Blogs & Podcasts

Tim Dees

Editor-in-Chief

Officer.com

First, a short confession: I was in my hotel room last night, and had to iron some shirts to wear at the SHOT Show today. I succumbed to temptation and tuned into the first episode of Armed and Famous. After a suspenseful tribute to the danger of the law enforcement profession, I see an aerial shot of a stretch limo, presumably carrying the stars of the show, driving on a rural highway, escorted front and rear by marked patrol units, emergency lights flashing. Yeah, that’s how I arrived at the police academy.
Strike One.

Then, each celebrity (and I use that term in the most liberal sense possible) is introduced, with Trish Stratus saying something about her performance promising “Total Stratusfaction.”

Strike Two.

Finally, Erik Estrada comes on screen, heralded as an “International Television Icon.”

Strike Three. TV Land had a rerun of Bonanza.

This is my first trip to SHOT, the Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade Show. Holy s***.

This is Guns with a capital “G.” Every kind of gun, gun accessory, knife, sword, gun sight, holster, sling, or whatever else can be found here. I doubt if I would make it through the entire show floor in four days (and I’ll only be here for three, anyway), so I’ll stick to the Law Enforcement area. Frank Borelli is here as well, so I’m sure you’ll hear more reports from him.

One of the more entertaining aspects is the outfits that people wear to this. Most people are dressed in business casual or logo shirts, but a few have SWAT-type jump suits, camo gear, a lot of Tactical 5.11 stuff, and berets seem to have come back from someplace. I saw one woman in full digital cammies that I thought was over the top until I got a little closer and saw that she was a genuine U.S. Army staff sergeant.

More later.