SHOT 2026: ‘We Choose Success’

“We choose success.”

Those three words best described the sentiments of two groups: the governors at the NSSF’s Governors’ Forum and the exhibitors in each aisle of SHOT 2026.

While 2026 isn’t expected to be a particularly great year business-wise, the majority of SHOT attendees I spoke with were willing to take a flat business year if the country continued heading in the right direction philosophically. In their estimation, it is.

From main floor longtime SHOT exhibitors to first-time attendees in the Supplier Showcase, the business projections ranged from “flat” to “down X-percentage…but not terrible.” For some, the quick cycle from boom to “the new normal” was a shock, but industry veterans continue counseling calm.

It’s not, as one longtime exhibitor said, “calamitous.” As one CEO reminded me, “at least the federal government’s not trying to shut us down. That’s a pleasant change.”

For the red state governors in attendance, the tumultuous political and regulatory situations faced by firearms-related businesses in the deep blue states represent opportunity.

Governors Sarah Huckabee Sanders (AR), Brad Little (ID), Greg Gianforte (MT), Jim Pillen (NE), Joe Lombardo (NV), and Mark Gordon (WY) have certainly not let those opportunities pass.

In April 2025, following Colorado’s passage of Senate Bill 25-003 restricting the sale and manufacturing of most semi-automatic, military-style rifles (read that AR-rifles) with detachable magazines, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte released a video and made personal calls to Colorado gun makers, asking them to move their operations to Montana.

His question was simple: “Do you want to move back to America? Montana is open for business.”

There’s precedent in his unprecedented pitch. In 2014, following Colorado’s passage of legislation banning any magazine capacity over 15 rounds, Magpul, one of the major magazine manufacturers, relocated to Texas and Wyoming. Others have followed that lead. But there are still opportunities to join the hundreds (yes, hundreds) of companies that have “voted with their feet.”

As the governors reminded attendees, those companies relocated to their states, primarily for the lower operating costs and, perhaps more importantly, the pro 2A protections they have enacted.

The governors often took advantage of opportunities to good-naturedly poke each other as to which state was the most pro 2A. While they’re aligned politically, they’re fiercely competitive when it comes to recruiting firearms and ammunition businesses to their respective states.

Despite that competition, however, they’re united in their belief in the foundational principles of the United States.

“We may compete fiercely with each other for companies to come to our states,” said Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders, “but we are all friends when it comes to protecting all our rights.”

As they frequently referred to the country’s 250th birthday, they echoed their belief that the best path for the whole country would be a return to the core principles of the founding fathers.

The underpinning principal, according to South Dakota Governor Larry Rhodes, was “less federal regulation and interference.“ He also gleefully reminded attendees that South Dakota was recently named the state with the best regulatory environment for business.

“We aren’t like the restrictive states,” he said, “we believe in helping businesses be successful, not punishing them because we don’t like what they make.”

While the governors unapologetically campaign for companies to relocate to their respective states, they quickly moved back into lockstep when it came to the subject of protecting the Second Amendment.

South Dakota, Governor Rhodes reminded the audience, had pending legislation “in the least restrictive state” that would have state regulations regard suppressors as non-firearms items.

The governors agree that freedom from overregulation, especially federal overregulation, is essential, and posit their states as “best” for business, from tax incentives and capable workforces to parties.

When it came to parties, however, Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo dismissed their “sad little parties,” reminding everyone “Las Vegas is in NEVADA.”

They all agree on one other essential for every state hoping to recruit companies: a trained workforce.

Their solutions range from incentivizing training and paying recruitment bonuses to completely overhauling their state educational systems to determine the essential qualities needed to create a skilled potential workforce.A skilled workforce, they all agreed, was a far more challenging proposition than tax incentives, lessened regulatory oversight or supportive state and local governments.

The difference between the red and blue states was summed up by a simple philosophy: we choose success.

With the continued exodus of companies from the heavily-regulated blue states, it’s difficult not to believe the opposite to be true there.

As always, we’ll keep you posted.