[Yournamehere]

Pretty much every reputable AR manufacturer sells their gun with a hard case now, at least that's what I've found online. Nowadays though, people want and expect as much for their money as possible, so all of these "package deals" are popping up, where you get not just a gun, but the gun, a case, an extra magazine or two, a cleaning kit, a lock, a magazine loader, or any combination of these things. I don't want to say it's true for every gun you will see in a shop today, though, since a lot of those guns have probably been sitting there for a couple years trying to get sold, and the package deal thing is, again, relatively recent, at least on a widespread basis. I know Browning and Beretta for the longest time included a case of some sort with their pistols, as well as extra magazines from time to time, but it wasn't really as much of a norm as it is now.

It also depends on the type of firearm too. I can see the justification for certain rifles and shotguns not having a case is that they are "sporting guns" and are made to be used or whatever, and most of the time, they are built as economically as possible, so a good price can be passed onto the buyer, and if a factory hard case is included, that could mark up the gun and result in a loss in sales. They'd rather sell the gun alone at a low price and have someone buy a hard or soft rifle case for a seperate price (probably made by a company they own anyway) then have to force that price on them at the start. ARs are probably an exception since they aren't generally considered sporting guns, and whoever buys them already knows they're gonna put down a grand, what's an extra 20-50 dollars for a rifle when it comes with a case?

Anyhow, I don't know what we'll see this year, but I can say with a lot of confidence that it won't be breathtaking. I don't expect anything drastically innovative (more AR or 1911 clones?), and whatever is there that is even remotely innovative won't be "worth it" because it'll be an unproven design with not much more to offer for the change anyway. We've sort of plateaued with regard to firearms, so all we've been getting and probably will get are small tweaks in proven designs that people know, recognize and trust, or innovations in accessories and gear. There's also new imports to look forward to apparently, like k9870 said.