Officer.com Police Blogs & Podcasts

Tim Dees
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

The first day of SHOT is done. First impressions are seldom accurate, but they are lasting. My previous blog entry half-supports that. So far, this first impression’s been accurate.

The whole show is show huge and overwhelming, I doubt if I will get out of the law enforcement pavilion before I leave. This might disappoint the hunters and target shooters among you, but you probably look at the web sites and magazines devoted to those interests, anyway.

One refreshing aspect is that this is a show virtually free of political correctness. If you haven’t been to a lot of trade shows, a trade show tradition is that of the Booth Babe. Booth Babes are professional models (or, for some very fortunate participant companies, regular female employees) who serve as visual incentives for the show attendees, mostly men, to visit the booth. Sometimes they narrate product presentations from a script (one told me that she had no idea what she was talking about, but that she could recite it in her sleep), sometimes they hand out literature, and sometimes they just stand there. The ones at left were in the latter category. They’re from Protective Products International. As with the other pictures, click on it to see a larger image.

In the “worst nightmares” department, Sarah Brady would be having kittens over almost everything here, but the display of nothing but gun toys in one booth would put her all the way over the edge. How things change in a generation. I had toy cap pistols, squirt guns, and a plastic “tommy gun” from Mattel that would go through a roll of paper caps in five seconds. None of these gave rise to an obsession with guns or violence. I never owned a gun before I was a cop, had shot them only in Army ROTC, and to this day only have the guns that I bought during my police career. So far, I have managed to avoid arrest on any charge, including violent crime. And, although the present generation of teenagers and young twentysomethings have been raised in a generally anti-gun culture, with toy guns very rare, I don’t recall any Columbine or Jonesboro-type incidents while growing up. Violence in school usually meant a meeting at the bike rack at three o’clock. It is truly a different world.

The t-shirt at left (from U.S. Tactical Supply) sets a new standard for U.S-Arab relations, as well as one in the politically incorrect department. Even so, I’m trying to think of someone for whom it would make the perfect birthday gift.

Finally, ASP has a very classy booth with watches, collapsible batons, and pepper spray dispensers. It looks more like a jewelry store than a tactical weapons display. One display cabinet had pepper spray weapons with all sorts of disco bling on the outsides. Just the thing for the lady that wants to remain stylish while fending off muggers.

More tomorrow.