OH Yes it is

You sweet talking devil you!!!

They will take you a side or in a different room, get your ID and give you a writen warning that if you come back in to a MWCA gun show, then you will be charged with trespassing... they may call the cops so there is paper work about it. They know what they are doing... !

Does anyone here know the answer to my earlie posted question definitively? I'll post it again for your convenience:



I just REALLY don't want to leave it in the car.

I guess that that would end one's ethics debate about spending money with anti carry gun shows!

Greg

Quote:
The MWCA web site says No LOADED firearms will be allowed, except for authorized security personnel. Soooo, can I carry right up to the door, unload into a speed loader, and carry my unloaded revolver into the show? .

One thing, they don't have a safe area to do that. At the Rochester show, some guys walked up to the sign, stood looking at it and then pulled a gun out and unloaded a Sig... The ejected round went flying.. and onto the floor. I was told it did not look very safe.

I think the best thing to do is... not allow ANY guns at the gun show. Just photos of guns on all the tables and if you have a CCW... you just carry a photo of your gun.....

Unload in your car*, put in gun rug. Lock action open. Present at the entry inspection table as if you were bringing it to sell. Carry it around the show in your rug. Leave show, re-load and re-holster in your car*.

You have now carried at the gun show, meeting their requirements.

* You could do this step in the bathroom outside the show, but it shows a little less discretion.

Thanks Mobocracy. I guess I don't see why, if I have unloaded (OK, in the car), why I couldn't still carry IWB holstered, per their signage.

This issue is starting to P*** me off. I might just skip the whole show. Of all places I wouldn't expect to be anti-carry...


grrrr.

In ordinary carry situations your gun (barring actual defensive usage) stays holstered. But at a gun show, SOMEBODY will decide that they want to compare their Glock to one on a table or something of that order, and suddenly somebody is whipping around a loaded gun, ejecting a round to make it "safe" and/or doing many of the other things that end up under "STUPID STUFF".

When something like that happens, it brands the show with a reputation of carelessness and it gets hard to find landlords willing to rent you space without million dollar surity bonds.

A carry permit isn't an exemption from mistakes, and yes, carry permits occasionally get issued to total morons who think they are perfect, invincible and above the rules/laws.

I do think that they should enhance their process to allow for carry at the shows, but I don't know what the exact process would be that would keep their "cold" rule. I think keeping it cold and allowing carry gets real complicated -- gun/ammo checks, unloading/reloading stations, and so on.

I don't think that is true. They have a sign on the door saying permit holders must have weapons holstered. A shoulder holster is a holster... so what's the problem? Have they actually told you you can't wear a shoulder holster?

I think it is true they won't allow you to draw and fire from the holster when on the line, but that is a different issue.

My experience is that you can carry a gun, and you can carry ammo, you just can't have the ammo in the gun. So the answer to your question is yes.

This is what actually happened to me: I wanted to shop for holsters at the show. Aside from the usual reasons, I also wanted to carry at the show so that I could try the actual gun in prospective holsters. When I got to River Center I checked the entrance and saw it was not posted against carrying, so I entered. As I approached the entrance to the main floor there was a sign saying words to the effect of "no loaded guns beyond this point" (this was after already paying by the way ).

There was a cop sitting there at a table. I was annoyed, but not prepared to leave. Rather than pulling out the gun and unloading it there (which should be perfectly legal), I walked up to the table, put both my hands palm down on the table, and while continuing to hold my hands there I asked the cop what someone should do if they had a loaded gun and wanted to enter. He visibly flinched (blinked repeatedly, pulled his head back), rolled his chair back a bit, rotated it to give his right hand better access to his hip, and looked at me without saying anything for a second. I held still with my hands on the table. After a moment he said to go to a bathroom, unload, and come back.

I did that, came back and presented my unloaded gun. He opened the cylinder, verified it was unloaded, then closed it and put a very flimsy plastic cable tie through the cylinder and around the frame. I rotated the lug of the tie to the rear of the gun, explaining to him that I didn't want it to interfere with trying out holster fit on the gun (the main reason for going to the show), and went on my way.

The show was mostly a waste of time. Tons of junk, but I don't think I saw a single j-frame holster to try out. I was able to pick up many guns an feel how they fit my hand. Sigs and CZs fit great. Everything else was a pretty poor fit. I left without buying anything, and ordered a SIG from Mark, which (after much pleading with his goofy suppliers) I was able to get 10 weeks later. I'm very happy with the gun, pretty disappointed in what is available at the show.

I think they did a bad job of organizing it, forcing you to pay before telling you that you can't carry. Forcing you to unload, but acting nervous about it when you ask them calmly how to/not providing a place to unload, etc.

If you are going do not leave your gun in the car. Do just as you proposed, i.e unload just before entering. Being zero feet from an unloaded gun (that can become a loaded gun in seconds) is much better than being several hundred yards and several minutes from a loaded gun.

I just KNEW if I waited long enough I'd get the answer I wanted!

Thanks bab.

What the hell You think this forum is to answer questions

I asked Roger to expand on it specifically and he told me that he doesn't want loaded guns in shoulder holsters because of the way the muzzle points (my Galco SS2 is horizontal carry). He said if I'm carrying that way I should unholster in the car and vice-versa.

I guess I don't completely agree with the position, but I like him and that range, so I wasn't going to argue the point. I could swear I'd seen someone there within the past year with a shoulder holster and a weapon in it; maybe the guy didn't get noticed, maybe it was a day Roger didn't notice or it was a guy Roger cut some extra slack.

I generally don't just drop by the range on a lark, so it's not an inconvenience for me -- I can just use the belt holster for range trips, and it's a little easier when chasing my brass, too. With the shoulder holster on and no gun on one side, I feel like a 12 year old girl in a training bra when I'm picking up my stray brass.

I "popped" in to BVPR one day and happend to be wearing my shoulder rig. I asked the kind lady behind the counter how she would like me to proceed. I was instructed to remove the holster at the firing line, with the gun still holstered, and then, with the muzzle downrange, "uncase" as normal. Likewise, I was to reholster the weapon at the line, then put the rig back on. It didn't seem to be a problem. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if rodger had a "grumpy day" once in a while...