NRA Tapped To Run Nation's Largest Sports And Outdoor Show In 2014
By Tony Romeo
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) -- A new organization has been chosen to run the nation's largest sports and outdoor show that was cancelled due to a gun controversy earlier this year. That organization is the National Rifle Association.
Harrisburg's Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show was cancelled by a backlash that resulted when the company that ran it banned the sale and display of semi-automatic rifles (Read related story). Next year's show, to be renamed "The Great American Outdoor Show," will be run by the NRA. Dauphin County Commissioner Jeff Haste says he's not worried about another backlash.
"Obviously, any selection could be a backlash," he says. "You had a group last year that had a completely different philosophy on this, and they killed the show. So you could pick any one of the vendors out there, and there could be a backlash."
Haste says the NRA was chosen from a field of 17 competitors because of its qualifications. But while all legal guns will be welcome, a spokesman says the firearms policy for the Harrisburg show will be the same as for NRA meetings: display only.
