The Eastern Sports & Outdoor Show has been "postponed".

[Lugnut]

IOW it's been cancelled. According to WNEP TV 40 exhibitors pulled out of the show.

http://www.easternsportshow.com/

[haikugal]

1. Fine...

idiots lose all around. All this is nothing but protest for rational action against the gun mania. So stay away...we don't need more military style weapons.

[Pat Riot]

2. That's a shame

But thanks for posting this. This story emphasizes the difference between crazed teabaggin' gun nuts and responsible gun owners.

I'm from a part of the state where gun safety was taught in school right before the first day of buck season, when almost everyone was absent from class, including half of the female teachers. It's difficult sometimes to explain the difference to some city folk who lump all gun owners together.

[haikugal]

3. This was never about hunting...

From the OP..

“Our original decision not to include certain products in the Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show this year was made in order to preserve the event’s historical focus on the hunting and fishing traditions enjoyed by American families,” said Chet Burchett, Reed Exhibitions President for the Americas. “In the current climate, we felt that the presence of MSRs would distract from the theme of hunting and fishing, disrupting the broader experience of our guests. This was intended simply as a product decision, of the type event organizers need to make every day.

It's all about Tea Party madness even if they hurt themselves.

I'm in rural PA btw.

[PoliticAverse]

5. So when the backlash occurred why didn't they rescind the decision instead of canceling the show

hurting all the vendors that had nothing to do with the situation ?

[frylock]

9. because the original decision was the right decision?

why give an inch to these teabagging turd buckets? crybaby crap like boycotting the show, which is estimated to contribute around 80 million dollars to the local economy, will hurt the gun humpers more than it will the folks willing to consider accepting common-sense gun laws.

[Lugnut]

6. My son and husband used to hunt many years ago.

They haven't gone hunting for almost 30 years. My son took the hunter's education classes when he was old enough to go out with his dad. The guns are all locked up in the gun cabinet and haven't been used since then. Most of our neighbors hunt but they eat what they bag. For some it's a necessity. Nobody I know has ever been shot accidentally or otherwise.

We used to go to the Sportsman show every year to see the RVs. We camped with the kids until the early 90s when we sold the trailer.

[badhair77]

4. the people hurt are the hotel and restaurant employees

The ones boycotting did not think about others' rights to earn a living. They are high-fiving themselves in their victory and planning their virtual store for that time period because they are worried about business lost to the boycotting vendors. What about the vendors who were not boycotting because they had to make a living? Or the people in the community who count on the tourism business the show brings? No thoughts or mentions of them.

[butterflygirl]

7. I do feel bad for those mentioned in your post

however if means no guns sold in my area, I'm sorry but I can't feel bad about that. The Harrisburg Patriot News had the most hateful comments from these boycotting nuts you could imagine, everything from Obama being like Hitler, a dictator, a monarch, all guns were going to confiscated, second amendment taken away, you name it was written. Gandhi was even mentioned, although I never quite understood that comment. It's a wonder they did not blame him in some way for the Kennedy assassination. The only thing they have managed to do is spite themselves. They wanted them to back down and allow the those guns to be sold, instead they canceled.

[Travis_0004]

8. It sucks for the employees, but I don't blame the boycotters over that.

The show said they didn't want semi auto rifles there, so supporters of semi auto rifles said they wouldn't show up. It sucks for the local economy that this show won't happen, but sometimes boycotts hurt innocent people.

I wonder how many people really canceled. Obviously their PR department is trying to put a positive spin on things, but if only a really small percent of people canceled like they said, why are they cancelling the show. Obviously the boycott was a lot more effective then they want to admit.

[frylock]

10. yep, and hopefully they focus their ire on the gun fetishists..

and not the organizers of the event, who were forced to cancel because these mouthbreathers couldn't drool over their black gun porn.