Postponement of the Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show is "financially devastating" for the Harrisburg, Pa., area, reports the city's Patriot-News. The event, scheduled for Feb. 2-10 at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex, was postponed Thursday following a boycott by hundreds of vendors upset by the show organizer's decision to ban the sale of assault rifles and high-volume ammunition magazines.

The organizer, Reed Exhibitions, has not said whether it plans to reschedule. The event, held for 61 years, draws hundreds of thousands of people. Local tourism officials say it generates $44 million, and that figure doesn't count things such as gasoline sales. David Black, president of the Harrisburg Regional Chamber, put the overall economic figure at $80 million, which he called a "conservative" estimate.