GunCon 2026 Highlights: The New Guns and Gear Worth Knowing

Last updated July 2026 · By Nick Hall, covers industry events, new products, and gun culture for USA Gun Shop

Quick take: GunCon 2026 has quickly become one of the more interesting stops on the firearms calendar, blending an industry show with a creator-driven consumer expo. Hosted by The Gun Collective in Niles, Ohio, this year’s event drew more than 60 brands and produced a steady stream of new products, from a modern Mini-14 chassis to a fingerprint-reading smart gun. Here are the highlights worth knowing.

• What it is: GunCon 2026, a firearms industry and consumer expo hosted by The Gun Collective.
• When and where: Niles, Ohio, June 17 to 20, 2026, with the public show day on Saturday, June 20.
• Scale: More than 60 brands, plus panels, demos, and Second Amendment advocacy groups.
• Why it matters: A growing venue where companies now choose to debut new guns and gear.

What GunCon 2026 was

GunCon 2026 is a firearms expo hosted by The Gun Collective, founded by Jon Patton, held at the Eastwood Event Centre in Niles, Ohio. It ran from June 17 to 20, 2026, with industry and VIP days early in the week and a public show day on Saturday, June 20. The event mixes a traditional trade-show floor with the media-and-creator energy you would expect from an outfit built around online firearms content, and it leans into panels, hands-on demos, and community.

More than 60 brands exhibited, and the guest list mixed well-known content creators with Second Amendment advocacy organizations. That combination is turning GunCon into a real launch venue, and several companies chose it to show new products rather than waiting for a bigger show. Below are the reveals we think are most worth your time.

The new guns and gear that stood out

The most talked-about reveals spanned everything from a classic-platform upgrade to genuinely futuristic tech. A handful stood out from the show floor:

• Samson modernized Mini-14 chassis — a near-all-aluminum, adjustable folding chassis that finally modernizes the Ruger Mini-14. See our full write-up on the Samson Mini-14 chassis.
• STINC Groza kit — a drop-in bullpup conversion that turns a PSA Krink into an OTs-14 Groza clone. We break it down in STINC’s Groza kit for the Krink.
• DS Arms goes all-in on the FAL — the FAL specialist said it is stepping back from AR-10 rifles to focus on its SA58 line. More in DS Arms bets its future on the FAL.
• Akos Arms Baza — an unusual straight-pull-action, .45 ACP large-format braced pistol with Winchester 1892 heritage. Read our Akos Arms Baza breakdown.
• Biofire Fire-by-Wire smart gun — a biometric 9mm handgun that reportedly uses fingerprint and facial recognition to unlock, with an electronic trigger.
• Extar EP9 MDB — a roller-delayed, “Modern Delayed Blowback” version of Extar’s budget large-format 9mm pistol.

The theme: a modern, creator-driven show

What ties GunCon 2026 together is its identity as an industry event with a content-creator backbone. Because it is run by a media company rather than a pure trade association, the show skews toward hands-on demonstrations, education, and community, and it welcomes the public rather than restricting access to trade professionals. That is a different flavor from the industry-only giants, and it is part of why brands are increasingly comfortable debuting products here.

The event also gave a platform to Second Amendment advocacy groups, reinforcing its positioning as much a gathering of the community as a product showcase. For shooters, the practical upshot is simple: GunCon is now a place to watch for genuinely new gear, and 2026 delivered a strong batch of it.

Our take on GunCon 2026

The through-line of this year’s reveals is variety, and that is a healthy sign for the industry. A modernized Mini-14 chassis, a bullpup AK conversion, a renewed commitment to the FAL, an oddball straight-pull .45, and a biometric smart gun could not be more different from one another, yet all found an audience at the same show. That breadth says the firearms market is still experimenting, and GunCon has become a good barometer for it.

If you follow new products, GunCon 2026 is worth a scroll through, and several of these items are covered in depth in the linked write-ups above. For optics news from the same window, our look at Colt’s first family of red dot optics rounds out a busy stretch for the industry.

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Related Reading

• Samson Modernized Mini-14 Chassis
• STINC’s Groza Kit for the Krink
• DS Arms Bets Its Future on the FAL
• Akos Arms Baza: Straight-Pull .45 ACP
• Colt Launches Its First Red Dot Optics