Cabela’s Inc. announced Saturday that it will not participate in the Eastern Sports and Outdoors Show to be held Feb. 2-10 at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, PA. The pull-out comes after a group smaller retailers and a number of exhibitors indicated they are likewise boycotting the trade show because of the decision by event organizer Reed Exhibitions to ban the display and sale of assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.

The ban was imposed following the deadly school shooting in Newtown, CT that claimed the lives of 20 children and six women and reignited the gun-control debate.

Cabela’s also was a sponsor of the event, billed as Pennsylvania’s
largest outdoor sports show. Other Lancaster County retailers that have
pulled out are Lancaster Archery Supply and Trop Gun Shop,
Elizabethtown.

A post Saturday on Cabela’s Facebook page explained the reasoning behind the decision.

“Due
to recent changes made by Reed Exhibitions [regarding the show]
Cabela’s will no longer sponsor this year’s event. After careful
consideration regarding Cabela’s business practices, and the feelings of
our customers, Cabela’s will, unfortunately, not have a presence at the
Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show.”

Reed Exhibitions of the United Kingdom announced last week that because of the “current climate that may attract negative attention,” it wont allow the display or sale of assault or assault-style weapons and large-capacity ammunition clips at the Feb. 2-10 show at the State Farm Show Arena.

The Reed decision came while the company runs the annual SHOT Show in Las Vegas, the largest hunt & fish trade show in North America. That show features fully automatic weapons and semiautomatic weapons in the modern sporting arms class, the classification that features weapons like the rifle used in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, CT.

The National Rifle Association joined the list of protesters late last week.

“We encourage Reed Exhibitions to reconsider their position,” the NRF’s statement reads in part, adding, “The NRA’s future participation in the Eastern Sports & Outdoor Show will be determined by Reed Exhibitions actions in response to the concerns raised by the NRA, the outdoor industry, and America’s law-abiding gun owners.”

According to Lancasteronline, exhibitors who have backed out of the Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show include:

  • Appalachian Big Game TV
  • Arrowhead Outdoors
  • Athens Archery
  • Atlantic Tactical
  • Blitz TV
  • The Bear Whisperer
  • Boondock Outdoors
  • BowHunter Planet
  • Bowhunting.com
  • CanCooker
  • Cabela’s
  • Cross Canyon Arms
  • Cutting Edge Bullets
  • Dead Ringer
  • Direct Action Tactical Firearms
  • Domari Nolo Defense Consulting
  • Dominator 365
  • DuckWater Boats
  • Farmland Trophies Outfitting
  • Firearms Industry Consulting Group
  • FoxPro Game Calls
  • Full Circle Outdoors
  • Gut-N-Tag
  • Heartland Whitetails
  • HookHunt
  • Hunters and Guides Connection
  • Hunter Safety Systems
  • Keystone Country Store
  • King of the Mountain Inc.
  • Kinsey’s Outdoors
  • KodaBow
  • Lancaster Archery Supply
  • Midwest Whitetail Adventures
  • Dominance is Everything Hunting System
  • Mountain Dog Chews
  • Nature Blinds
  • Northern Hideaway Outfitters
  • Open Season TV
  • Outdoor Edge Knives
  • Pipeline Ridge Hunting Preserve
  • Primal Urge Outdoors
  • Spook Spann
  • Sportsmen of North America TV
  • Stay Ready Inc.
  • Stokerized Stabilizers
  • TNT Archery
  • Trijicon Inc.
  • Trop Gun Shop
  • The Warmbag
  • Whitetail Bosses
  • Whitetail Heaven Outdoors
  • Wired Outdoors
  • Woodcock Limited of PA
  • Wyvern Creations
  • X-Stand Treestands
  • Zook Cabins
  • 2 Million Bullets