They probably wouldn’t allow me in because I have three surgical implants Full steel Left Hip, Steel Left Shoulder Implants, and cranial implant from a car accident in 1979. So I’m not getting in to a Gun show.
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In Texas they post the proper legal signage outside literally every gun show. I believe it’s a safety thing because believe it or not there are people stupid enough to take out their loaded carry piece to show someone when they want a light/laser/RMR from everything I can tell the organizers have no issue with concealed carry and they encourage it. There’s a rule of thumb for things like this and it goes if it’s a rule it means someone did it before and it didn’t end well. (Think someone pulling their loaded carry piece to ask about a light and having an ND) well now no one can carry cause some moron ruined it. I’ll still go because I’m not going to just never go to gun shows. Anywhere else though and I’m not going.
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I am retired LEO and was told that even when on the job,I could not carry in the shows.
That being their rules,I asked “where is your discharge pail” to unload a pistol.
They did NOT HAVE ONE.
So if you have an N.D./A.D. who is responsible for you handling your pistol in public ?.
My theory is,if your not searched AND if you have no intention to draw that pistol [ your looking for a holster etc ] then,it’s between you and the good Lord if your armed.
Your permission to draw a loaded gun is NOT given by that LEO or security guard at the door.
It;s your ass,act accordingly.
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My local gun show is held on the county grounds in a building that’s posted. I do see the irony of not being allowed to carry at a gun show
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This is my thought process as well. I have witnessed too many people, even at local gun shops who take out their loaded firearm to show someone, or assess it, or ask for help with an accessory. You put 100’s of people in one place all doing that, and the probability of one of them having a ND goes up substantially. Where I am, local Sheriffs are always running security, and have a booth directly on site.
They also just zip tie the action back. I get to keep my full mags, ammo, and gun.
I can see why places, especially gun shows, implement these types of rules. While they may deter some people from attending, the flip side is the bad publicity if one of their patrons gets shot by someone who is careless with their firearm. Then, as a gun community, that impacts ALL of us. It simply perpetuates the narrative that “guns are dangerous” and gun owners are careless. True or not, perception is reality.
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Welcome Anthony
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Years ago I quit going to guns shows for a variety of reasons. First, and this applies to all kinds of product shows, I dislike paying a fee simply for the privilege of looking at items offered for sale, and those fees have skyrocketed in recent years. Second, the prices at gun shows are generally higher than average, and the sharpest haggling in the world only gets it down to normal retail if you’re lucky. Third, and this may just be a local thing, I find the patron population to be about 90% yahoos as opposed to responsible shooters. Never cared for that sort of company.
Lastly, when it comes to making serious choices/purchases, I like to have formed some level of relationship with the seller or business I’m dealing with. Specifically to this topic, I regularly visit my local gun store and pawnshop and chat with the clerks and owners. In the end I feel as though I get better information and service when I do make a significant purchase, and I have cultivated a valuable resource.
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Thank you!
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Good rant @Fred_G. I quit going to gun shows years ago partly for what you (and others that have commented) describe but mostly because of the lack of awareness I’ve seen so many people exhibit at these events. Was getting some equipment ready to take in for trade and watched a couple of guys obviously engaged in a transaction (in the parking lot) when the gentleman making the buy decided he needed to shoot the ground in front of his feet. I left at that point. There’s enough stupid people in the world to make a difference.
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I can see that point of view very easily, @Jesse3. I had a customer at the range show me their firearm this weekend (after asking to open his case outside of the lanes). He said it was unloaded, but when he cleared it before handing it to me a live round ejected. He was shocked. I can see that type of thing being much worse at a gun show.
If there are armed guards and metal detectors to get in the show, I can understand their desire to limit live ammo for everyone’s safety. You’d have to be pretty bad off to attempt to shoot up a gun show with armed guards. (I feel the same way about anyone who would attempt to shoot up the USCCA headquarters.)
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@David38 I have never been to a gun show but if someone was very serious about actually purchasing a gun, passed all the Background checks etc. etc. how you going to rent a like-gun so a person can see if they actually like the gun and you like it good enough to buy it? I’m in the situation where I have so many surgical implants life is hard but to see me walk, and joke around you wouldn’t guess I had any particular pain. After I was shot the last time I discovered pain medicine wasn’t my forte’ all it did for me was make my ears ring and constipate me. Seriously I don’t get why people become addicted to that crap.
If gun shows have any commonality with flea markets there’s many more people kicking the tires than actually buying anything.
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Definitely mostly lookie-loos there in my experience, @Robert8 . In the grand scheme of things I think they are becoming an anachronism. The marketplace doesn’t work now the way it did when such product showcases were popular and profitable.
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Yes I think it’s going to be obsolete soon.
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It comes and goes. 3 years ago they were kinda pathetic. Most of this year they’ve been pretty well attended in MO
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Fun thread. I still refuse to pay money to go into a place to spend money without my carry gun. My choice. If folks like going to them, go for it.
I guess I just have been blessed to be on hot ranges, group gatherings, and tours with armed folks who know not to pull a loaded gun unless it is needed to shoot a threat.
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In the State of Illinois, you cannot carry into any public event. Homecomings, concerts, parades etc. The only time you can carry is when the event is on private land or property. We just attended a customer appreciation day at Piasa Armory, gun store and range. This being private property you were allowed to carry.
I do not attend any function that I cannot carry. I chose not to be a fish in a barrel.
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The rule at all the gun shows I have been to in Virginia are no loaded firearms and no loaded magazines. I am surprised you were let in if the person checking your firearm saw you unload your firearm and put the loaded mag and spare round in your pocket.
There are no metal detectors, and in Virginia, “no gun” signs do not carry any legal weight, so if you are properly CC, you could just ignore the rule and carry anyway. If found, you would be asked to leave, and since there are numerous police and ATF around, that would be the wise choice. If you do not leave, you would be charged with misdemeanor trespassing, not a firearm-related crime. Obviously, you would also be banned from the venue.
No loaded firearms makes a certain amount of sense, at least for firearms one intends on trading, selling, or just showing-off. It seems most of the private “sellers” just like walking around and showing-off their special rifles and handguns. They always seem to have a story to tell along with the firearm. I have yet to see any private sales, and I have been to quite a few gun shows in the last several years. Though I have seen many transactions by FFL dealers, which, obviously, they still need to abide by state and federal laws on sales of firearms. The unicorn of gun shows does not exist, there is no “loophole”.
Most of the items are the same at every show. How many Glocks and S&Ws, etc., does one need to see? Not worth the cost of admission. I am a member of a couple of rights organizations and attend as a representative. If it wasn’t for that, I would not attend guns shows, either.
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The last show I was at, a couple weeks ago, was quite busy. Ordinarily, they only get busy when there is an election or some idiotic legislation being proposed. In Virginia, our Governor, “Black Face” Northam, and anti-rights Democrats have been hot for passing more “gun control”, and we have an election coming in November, so that means the next few months attendance at gun shows in Virginia will be higher than normal. And if the Democrats take control of both houses of the state legislature, business will be booming. Sadly, there aren’t many pro-rights Democrats left in Virginia politics, they don’t poll well with the vocal, anti-rights part of the Democratic party.
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