Sex, guns and ammo: inside the world's largest gun industry trade fair

Mass shootings and gun sales. Photograph: Graphics for the Guardian

A convention attendee looks at rifles displayed at Shot Show. Photograph: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Gun businesses are seeing record sales and profits as people rush out to arm themselves – and Shot Show in Las Vegas has 12 miles of exhibitions to help

Gun sales have spiked following a series of mass shootings and out of fear of increased gun control legislation.

Rupert Neate and Mae Ryanin Las Vegas-Saturday 23 January 2016

“We’re sort of firearms connoisseurs,” Whitney Condit said as she excitedly explored the latest handguns and semi-automatic assault rifles to hit the market at Shot Show, the world’s largest gun industry trade fair.

As she spoke, fellow enthusiasts spread out over the 2.25m square feet Sands Expo convention centre at the Venetian casino on Las Vegas’s strip. “We like to go out on range, we like to shoot. It’s a passion of ours.”

Condit and her fiance, Colin Gallagher, a former star of shooting reality TV show Top Shot, already own “around 200” guns, but are looking for the next few pieces to add to their collection. “We have rifles, shotguns, handguns. You name it, we pretty much have it,” said Condit, who runs a Firearms = LOVE Pinterest page.

The couple from Witchita, Kansas, are among more than 60,000 people who descended on Sin City this week for Shot Show, which has grown to become the fifth biggest convention held in Las Vegas, according to gun trade association the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF).

Steve Sanetti, president of the NSSF, paraphrased Winston Churchill as he opened the show at a gala dinner complete with a standup comedian. “During some pretty dark days of his own: We may experience some setbacks when a frightened and misled public acts without thinking. We may find that our path forward has been temporarily blocked. We may even have to endure some period of darkness before the facts and the truth about lawful, responsible firearms ownership again conquer the powerful forces set against us. The road ahead will be arduous and costly. But the people are never fooled for long. They, and we, will prevail.”

Inside the convention centre, uniformed military generals mingled with boy scout leaders touring more than 12 miles of exhibitions showing everything from the latest tactical assault rifles complete with laser guided sights to Lethal Lace, a garter that can double as a holster.

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