Business & Tech

St. Charles Business Owners See Opportunity at NRA Convention

Patch caught up with residents and businesses taking part in the annual convention being held in St. Louis this weekend.

Anyone walking through the annual convention at the National Rifle Association's annual meeting in St. Louis will be witness to seven acres of what many here have called "Nirvana" for gun enthusiasts.

It's a chance for local business owners to sell to a wide audience. 

, which specializes in shot shell reloading, metallic reloading, powders & prims, bullet casting and muzzleloading, knows this is a big deal.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

"We try to make this a huge event for our company. We’re trying to drive as many people back to our store as we can,” said store owner Mike Graf at his exhibit at America's Center.

Graf doesn't have a set expectation about what the event will mean for the firm's bottom line, but he said he has boosted inventory levels in anticipation of an after convention surge.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

For St. Charles resident Mike Fagras, the event is more about selling a sport than selling product. He's representing the Ohio-based American Single Shot Rifle Association.

The ASSRA, according to the group's website, is an organization that promotes the responsible use, study and preservation of single-shot rifles. Single shot rifles trace their heritage back to Germany and Switzerland, and the association is devoted to models from the 1800s to the present.

The ASSRA was represented the last time the NRA held its annual convention in St. Louis in 2007 and Fagras said St. Louis has been a "major area" when it comes to Single Shot.

Fagras described the mood here as positive when it comes to the state of gun ownership, noting recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding individual rights under the 2nd Amendment.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from St. Charles