If some other bloggers are calling SHOT 2012 “The Year Of The Zombie,” I think they’re missing something important. SHOT 2012 was really “The Year The Zombie Jumped The Shark.” Zombie ammo? Check. Zombie ammo boxes? Got it. Zombie knives (obviously not designed by anyone who’s read Max Brooks’ survival guides)? Roger. But why stop there?…

This is the lens cover from Leupold’s VX-R Zombie Patrol 1.25-4 scope. It’s the same scope I reviewed last year, with a green FireDot reticle which I actually like, and also with a slime-dripping ‘Zombie’ graphic on the eyepiece bell and the cranially-fixated scope cover shown here. Which I hate.

Eotech is also gearing up for the Global War On Zombies with their XPS-2Z holosight. I dig Eotech gear, but like all ‘Zombie’ gun gear this scope’s ‘cool factor’ will have a shelf-life shorter than raw oysters.

I have to give Eotech a grudging hat-tip, because they designed a whole new (and extremely cluttered) ‘Biohazard’ reticle for it instead of just giving it a new name and a day-glo green ‘Zombie’ logo. But I’m not sure they’re going to recoup their costs, once the zombie hype quiets down.

We’ve all heard of Hornady’s Z-Max bullet line, but answer me this: if you really wanted to penetrate an undead skull with a .380, wouldn’t you want FMJ bullets instead?

Zombie Industries treated us to a Rogue’s Gallery of paper, 3-D, and slime-filled bleeding zombie targets. Several of them were downrange at Media Day…

And they showed why I’m disappointed at the marksmanship skills of most of my fellow journalists. Everybody knows that Zeke only goes down for good if you scramble his brains, so why are we looking at so many torso hits?

I don’t wish ill on any of these manufacturers, but I don’t predict a long life (or living death) for this gun/zombie fad. It may linger as a socially-acceptable (or at least tongue-in-cheek) excuse to stock up on guns and ammunition, and to practice firing at simulated human(oid) targets.

But I hope next year’s SHOT Show is as zombie-free as Will Smith’s New York safehouse at the beginning of I Am Legend. Let’s pray for sunlight, and let’s bring plenty of bleach.

UPDATE: Shooting Gallery gun guru Michael has taken responsibility for the Zombie trend, and apologized.