Odd Signs at a Gun Show

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Monac

Monac

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I went to a gun show today in Waukesha, Wisconsin. That is in southeastern Wisconsin, a short distance due west of Milwaukee. It has been well over a year since I have been to a show.

One of the sellers had several signs up at his table. One said he was a licensed firearms dealer, which I liked, because sometimes it can be hard to tell, and I like to know what paperwork will be involved before I consider buying a gun.

But another sign said "Videography, include photography, is PROHIBITED by Federal Law." That is something I had never heard of before. There was a sign up at the entrance to the show saying filming was not allowed, which I understand and am OK with, but a Federal law? Anybody know what that was about? (I did not want to ask the seller because he was busy.)

He had a second sign that said "If you are from ILLINOIS, we cannot serve you. Please do not touch the guns or other products." That was also new and different to me. I am a Wisconsin resident. I remembered going to some Illinois gun stores and being told I could not handle a gun without an Illinois FOID card. But I also remember going to many gun shows at Grayslake, Illinois for years after that, and examining guns with no problem. I bought many non-gun items, and I could buy guns because a friend I went with was an FFL holder.

Also, Illinois state law restricts people in while they are in Wisconsin? :thumbdown:

Is it just me, or are both these things oddities? The seller had a large layout, was doing a good business, and seemed strange or eccentric in no other ways.

PS: FOID = Firearms Owner IDentification
 
Was it in an Armory? (Many gun shows are.) I could see where the Photography ban would be in effect with Federal backing, because every Arms Room I ever went in had a sign prohibiting photography. I have a picture of me in my Arms Room, but I was not the photographer. (It was with a Polaroid camera, taken by an Officer as part of a display showing who did what in the Battalion HQ.)
 
entropy said:
Was it in an Armory? (Many gun shows are.) I could see where the Photography ban would be in effect with Federal backing, because every Arms Room I ever went in had a sign prohibiting photography. I have a picture of me in my Arms Room, but I was not the photographer. (It was with a Polaroid camera, taken by an Officer as part of a display showing who did what in the Battalion HQ.)
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Nope, it was at the Waukesha Country "Expo", which is purely a county facility. Good thinking though; that would not have occurred to me.
 
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Axis II said:
Sounds like someone was on a power trip and had a chip on his shoulder. Not sure about your area but 90% of the guys at gun shows around here are tin foil hat goofballs that think everyone is out to get them. I’d walk by and take a picture:)
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Truthfully, that is another reason I did not approach the tableholder; some people do not respond well to questions about how they run their business. Most of the time I can understand that. But he really did not seem disagreeable. He was busy selling, though.

And the gun show itself had a policy against filming and and photography, which I have seen before and have no problem with. It was the "Federal Law" part that got my attention.
 
I have been to gun shows in California, North Carolina and Oregon and I have seen signs like that at all of them. BUT they were either signs put up by the property owner or by the folks hosting the gun show. Some vendors do it as well.
Mostly it is to keep reporters and people that want to be reporters from taking videos or photos that could end up in the news as some sensationalist BS. At least that is what I have been told.
In my opinion if a guy doesn’t want people videoing or photographing him or his sales items it’s really none of my business why.
 
Pat Riot said:
I have been to gun shows in California, North Carolina and Oregon and I have seen signs like that at all of them. BUT they were either signs put up by the property owner or by the folks hosting the gun show. Some vendors do it as well.
Mostly it is to keep reporters and people that want to be reporters from taking videos or photos that could end up in the news as some sensationalist BS. At least that is what I have been told.
In my opinion if a guy doesn’t want people videoing or photographing him or his sales items it’s really none of my business why.
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I agree. It was the claim that a Federal law was involved that got my attention. Have you ever seen a sign saying that?
 
Monac said:
I agree. It was the claim that a Federal law was involved that got my attention. Have you ever seen a sign saying that?
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No. I don’t believe I have.
I know in Anaheim Stadium in CA there was a sign stating it was a city ordinance. In Orange County CA it was a county ordinance. In Oregon it was the host company’s policy. The others I recall didn’t give any indication of who was making that rule.
In the 80’s I did go to a gun show on federally owned land that was part of an old military base but I don’t recall any signage there.
 
You should have asked him to quote chapter and verse of said "Federal law".

The last gun I bought at a gun show was at the show in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and that seller didn't even ask to see my Wisconsin driver's license. Now, that I thought was rather odd ....,
 
I've never been to a gun show outside my home state (NC), and most of them have been in the town where I live. There are clearly posted signs everywhere prohibiting videography or photography. Personally, I have no problems with that, it lessens the evidence the Feds can collect about whatever it is they're looking for. I also don't have problems with the "hands off" policies I've seen at many of the tables. It's customary politeness to ask before you handle anyway, but when you've got 5-15 people at your table with only a couple sets of eyes to watch everyone, from the seller's perspective I'd rather nobody mess with stuff unless I'm focused on helping them. I sometimes wonder how much of the non-firearm goods get pilfered at a gun show; it looks like a giant flea market, hundreds of people bumping shoulders and easy enough to reach between a couple of people at a table and grab something near the edge, then make off with it. Lots of private sellers don't give receipts for small items, where's the proof you didn't buy it?
As for telling someone if you're from XXX and I can't help you, that's the seller's right, but in some cases it's just saying that what they have is prohibited where you're from.

I've seen little at a gun show that would keep me from going back. Several years ago, there was a negligent discharge of a shotgun that a private owner was trying to sell; ever since then, there's a cop at the door to make sure nobody is carrying (including licensed concealed/open carry) a loaded gun within the confines of the building where the show is.
 
[QUOTE="frogfurr,]With all due respect the folks I have met that run the gun shows will probably never hold a high ranking government office or be college professors.[/QUOTE]

The ones I know wouldn't take the pay cut. The guy that owns the big promotion here in FL is one of the largest dealers in the country. He started with one table at a show when he was in college.
 
The one thing I can't stand in places like that are people who try to BS and lie to me about dealings around firearms and ammunition.

They is a difference between "I won't sell you this rifle" and "It's illegal for me to sell you a rifle."

Either you're BSing me or you don't actually know the laws. Either way, you've definitely not make a sale worth several hundred dollars. Probably doesn't mean much, since the person didn't want to sell to me anyway. If it's a personal/corporate policy not to sell a long gun to someone from another state, then just say so. I may be disappointed, but I can respect that.

There is no need to bolster things with fake claims in an attempt to give extra weight to your words. Just be up front. All you end up doing is making yourself look like an idiot, and fewer people want to deal with idiots.
 
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davethedog said:
Hmm. It's not illegal to film in public and i would say a gun show at a county building is public.
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Not if you pay a fee to enter. It might be public property but it's a private event. Just like you can't take professional photography/videography cameras into concerts at publicly owned venues.

I can see the sign about residents for IL serving two purposes: 1) limit liability for being sued by the state of IL for selling firearms to IL residents, and 2) eliminate time wasted serving a potential customer that you're not going to sell to.
 
Coyote3855 said:
I've seen hidden camera videos taken by the media that are intended to discredit gun shows, firearms vendors, and gun owners in general. Maybe that's the reason for the sign. Although I'm not aware of any federal law that prohibits filming.
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The news media thinks they are above the rules and the law.
Back in the early 90’s I worked for a public agency. I wore a tee shirt to a gun show in Orange County, CA that was given to me at work. It was red and had my agency logo on it.
Later that day a friend I worked with called and said “Hey, I saw you on TV at the gun show.” I thought he was kidding. Being that the LA News was so full of themselves that same news ran again the next hour and sure enough they had a story about the gun show and all the self perceived “nefarious” activities going on at that show…people legally buying guns and other assorted items and in one of the clips there I am across the table from the camera shooter wearing my red shirt looking at pistol mags. My face was partially obscured but everyone at work that saw the clip knew it was me.
It was obvious from the footage the camera was in a shoulder bag.
From that point all all bags were searched at that show to verify “no one is bringing unchecked guns into the show”. Also signs went up everywhere about “No photography or video allowed unless authorized”.
That was in 1992.

It doesn’t matter now. Gun Shows are all now banned on public property in this enlightened utopia of goodness and freedom. :barf:
 
wiscoaster said:
You should have asked him to quote chapter and verse of said "Federal law".

The last gun I bought at a gun show was at the show in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and that seller didn't even ask to see my Wisconsin driver's license. Now, that I thought was rather odd ....,
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Yep. People should be more wary than that about getting in trouble with the law, if only for their own sake.
 
Pat Riot said:
It doesn’t matter now. Gun Shows are all now banned on public property in this enlightened utopia of goodness and freedom.
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At least some of the blame for that has to go to sellers like the ones wiscoaster describes above, who don't seem to care who they might be selling a gun to as long as they get their money.

BTW, I do NOT mean FFL holders; I have never encountered a person with an FFL who was willing to bend the law. I mean people who were selling personal guns and did not check to see if the buyer was from their state. That is either ignorance or carelessness, and neither one of those things is good for the shooting sports.
 
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