The National Association of Tobacco Outlets will end its five-year experiment with a trade show so it can instead focus on fighting "onerous tobacco restrictions" being passed at all levels of government.

The $2 million-revenue association has held the NATO Show since 2011. But the group recently announced that this year's show—which will be held from April 20 to 21 in Las Vegas—would be its last.

"While we have been eagerly anticipating the upcoming NATO Show this month, there was a consensus among board members that given the many trade shows available to tobacco retailers, this is the right time to focus on NATO's core expertise in battling onerous tobacco restrictions," the association said in a statement on its website.

As an example of one such restriction, NATO singled out a new Chicago ordinance that raises the city's tax on tobacco products while raising the legal age for tobacco purchases to 21.

The Chicago ordinance "highlights the need for NATO to concentrate all of the association's efforts to protect tobacco retailers from unreasonable, unfair and even unlawful tobacco regulations," the association said.

NATO didn't say what other changes would take place as part of the new focus on advocacy. The group lists five staff in addition to Executive Director Thomas Briant on its website—all with the title legislative consultant.

The NATO Show is produced by ConVexx, an event management company that recently began producing the National Shooting Sports Foundation's SHOT Show. ConVexx took over the show after NSSF dropped the previous producer—Reed Exhibitions—for banning certain types of firearms from its events following the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting in 2012. www.natocentral.org

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