At the risk of being flamed, I am not surprised or particularly offended at a "No CCW" rule at the SHOT show, for the following reason:
People carry to protect themselves. Attacks almost always happen away from crowds. When you are carrying and go into an area with other people, no one knows. The gun stays hidden and unmentioned. All is well. At an art exhibit or baseball game, no one has ever had an ND because every carry gun stayed holstered.
At the SHOT show, or any other gun show, you have a HUGE number of CCW holders, much more than the percentage of the general population.
EVERYONE THERE likes guns, unlike at the art museum, grocery store, or baseball stadium. So now, instead of the CCW holder walking through the art exhibit, grocery aisle, etc. with his gun holstered and unmentioned, now he sees the ROBAR booth and says "Hey Robbie! Look at my carry gun and tell me which of your finishes would be best for it, would you?" Out comes the [insert favorite handgun here] and the guy sweeps a dozen people (maybe just their feet) with it while he unloads it. Repeat this scene HUNDREDS (thousands?) of times as attendees show off their favorite carry pieces to like-minded enthusiasts.
The law of large numbers tells us that with this many people in one place showing others their loaded carry guns, there is a high probability of a ND (Jeff Cooper had one with a scout .308 a year or two ago at a talk he gave at a hotel at SHOT or SOF, I forget which. No injuries.) Cops have "clearing boxes"--I guarantee it isn't for some theoretical problem that hasn't happened yet.
SHOT is so big, it's like Oshkosh is with planes. Almost every year, there is at least one fatality during the week-long fly-in there. It's not because Oshkosh has bad safety procedures, it's the law of large numbers.
The rule for guns at SHOT is NO FIRING PINS. I cannot fault this rule, given the quantity of people milling around.
JR