We're already seeing short-term fallout from the tragedy a few weeks ago in Newtown. Several gun shows due to take place within a roughly two-hour drive of Sandy Hook Elementary School have been canceled.
A show in White Plains, N.Y. — brought back a few years ago after being called off for a decade because of the Columbine shooting — is off because officials decided it didn't seem appropriate now, either. In Danbury, Conn. — about 10 miles west of Newtown — the venue backed out. Same with three other shows in New York's Hudson Valley, according to the organizer.
In at least one city near Newtown, there won't be any gun shows for a long time. The police chief in Waterbury--20 miles northeast of Newtown--says he won't issue any gun show permits until further notice because he's concerned a gun bought at one of these events could be used in a mass shooting.
At least one gun show that has been allowed to go on has been forced to alter its displays. Organizers of a gun show in Saratoga Springs, New York agreed to a request by the city council to ban the display and sale of semiautomatic weapons and high-capacity clips. The mayor of Barre, Vermont doesn't want them sold at an annual show in February.
The NRA can keep up its "noun, verb, Second Amendment" line all it wants. But until the gun show loophole is slammed shut, one can hope these are the first of many actions at the local level.