Being searched at the door

[JVaughn]

I am not suggesting any illegal activity, nor am I asking if anyone commits any crimes. Don't want to give the wrong impression.

What places have you been to that prohibits weapons (whatever type) and actually makes some effort to determine if people are compliant? For exampe, the courthouse has metal detectors, the airport has pretty intense security, etc.

I find that most places have no means to ensure their rules are followed other than a sign stating the rules and the assumption that people are following them. I thought it would be interesting to see what places were out there searching the public, aside from the obvious places I used for examples.

This occured to me after reading a post by DeepSouth about knife restrictions on Carnival cruises. Do they really search you when you board?

My places are:
LP Stadium in Nashville, TN. Got searched before a Titans game.
Once went to a night club years ago when I was a teenager, got searched there.

 

[jmstevens2]

No bar is searching me for any reason.
You also have to remember these are the same dolts that think the bad guys won't come in because they have a sign.......

 

[JVaughn]

No bar is searching me for any reason.

Right there with you on that one! I should have clarified, I was 18 at the time and unarmed - just sticks out in my mind because i was sent back to the car to stow my swiss army knife before I was permitted to enter.

 

[armoredman]

Only time I was ever pat searched was going into a nightclub in San Francisco in 1988 while in the service - they had two off duty SFPD officers in uniform patting down everyone coming in. Only other thing worth remembering about that place was the disco balls were glass plates glued to rotating manikins on the ceiling. Work shook us down coming in, and occasionally got pat searched there, but that's part of the job.
Lots of metal detectors in government buildings, but never had hands laid on me anywhere else.

 

[Owen Sparks]

They can require a search as a condition of entry just like they can require a cover charge but they can not search you if you decide not to accept the condition and walk away.

On private property they can make any rules that they want.
You either voluntarily accept them or you don’t come in.

 

[Armored farmer]

I was refused entry to Conseco Field House in Indy in Dec 2011. My pocketknife pinged their metal detector.

 

[Mainsail]

...the airport has pretty intense security, etc.

The secure area of the airport has intense security. Carry in the non-secure areas of the airport here in Washington is completely legal, including open carry.

 

[hermannr]

I won't go where they search you. I don't fly commercial any more either. If Ron Paul gets elected and defunds TSA, maybe I'll fly commercail again, not until then. I'll drive across country first before I will submit to that junk.

Only place I will go where there is a metal detector is the court house for jury duty.

 

[Owen Sparks]

His son Rand had a confrontation with the TSA yesterday.

 

[Twiki357]

I could copy and paste hermannr's comment and it would be 100% accurate for me.

My job required extensive air travel when 9/11 hit. In February 2002 I just went for early retirement. Haven't been near an airport since.

 

[jmstevens2]

If Ron Paul gets elected and defunds TSA, maybe I'll fly commercail again, not until then.

The house decides what money is spent and what is not, not the President. Unless he is a socialist who ignores the Constitution.

 

[Sgt_R]

Sporting events. a Mariners game in Seattle & a Thrashers game in Atlanta stick out in my mind. They weren't doing pat downs and they didn't have metal detectors, but they did search purses, handbags, backpacks, etc. Come to think of it, they were probably more concerned with people bringing in beer than weapons.

A concert in Maryland. No metal detectors that I remember, random pat downs, bag searches. I was working security at this event, so I know what they were looking for: drugs, booze, and weapons. They even took wallet chains & body jewlery if it looked mean enough (it was a rock/metal concert, so there was plenty to go around).

A rally for a major political candidate back in '08. Metal detectors, random pat downs, bag searches, and dogs. Had to walk back to my car and ditch 2 knives & a can of pepper spray (should have been obvious I know, but I wasn't thinking about it until I saw the security checkpoint).

Nothing else comes to mind.

R

 

[Owen Sparks]

Again if you don't consent to be searched you don't have to come in.

 

[Sgt_R]

Right, but if you do want to go in, you have to consent to the search. Going to baseball games is entirely optional. Being searched before you enter the stadium isn't.

R

 

[Davek1977]

I've been searched going into many concerts...either with a "wand", minor patdown, or a simple visual inspection of the waitband area (lift shirt and spin kind of a deal). I don't necessarily LIKE it, but I enjoy live music(and flying) so sometimes I concede that they are a "necessary (to partake in what i enjoy, at least) evil".

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

The Joe Louis Arena in Detroit has metal detectors.

 

[MyGreenGuns]

Only time I was ever pat searched..

You need to get out more.

I've been to more than a few concerts that require a pat down. I've gotten a pat down after asking an officer to drive me back into town. I've been to many events that do a pat down.

Most events are more concerned with you sneaking food/drink in than weapons. Many times the men walk right by while the ladies have to have their purses checked. Its relatively safe to leave an event with 5,000 people and not worry about being attacked.

Private parties that have metal detectors are a NO NO place for me. The people who didnt get in are waiting across the street with weapons. You are more likely to be attacked trickling out one or two at a time.

I'm all for carrying my gun/knife with me everywhere, but if you are too afraid to leave it behind once in awhile you should think about why.

 

[Sam1911]

I've been to several venues -- especially amusement parts for whatever reason -- that do bag checks and visual once-overs. Strangely, they never have asked me to set down whichever kid I had sitting on the 1911 on my hip so they could get a better look at it. Go figure.

Been patted down at one college football game back in the '90s. Just one though. Never figured that out.

 

[lemaymiami]

For the original poster.... most are missing the point - those signs are posted in most places only because their lawyer(s) told them to. The idea is rarely to limit someone with weapons entering a particular facility, it's much more about staking out a position to limit liability if something does happen....

What I'm talking about is where our society has come to in an age when lawsuits are an industry. I wish I had an extra dollar for every meeting I had to sit through when I was a cop that was designed solely to limit my department's or my city's liability in one issue or another. I swear some executives want to call their lawyers before a trip to the can.

 

[dev_null]

Happens all the time. Got stopped going to a concert because I had my Swiss army knife on me. What was I going to do, feloniously remove a stone from someone's hoof? Corkscrew them to death? So it goes. (I had to walk back to the car and toss it in the glovebox.)

 

[cskny]

find the responses strange. They search everywhere here. Sporting events, concerts, theaters, airports, cruise lines, amusement parks, courts...etc. In fact, I'd be surprised if we didn't get searched at this point, it's far more common.

If it's not via metal detector, it's by bag inspection and pat down.

 

[elano]

Got the full pat down going into a bowling alley once. Was told my pocket knife had to the car.

 

[highlander 5]

Last year I went to Disney World and IIRC there was a search of bags and the like but I don't recall being wanded. Year before we went on a cruise with Royal Carribean and we were issued a photo ID card and had to go thru a metal detector and X ray bags and the like before we were allowed back on board. When we flew to meet the ship at both airports my wife who is in a wheelchair was wiped down for explosives. Such is our society today unfortunately.

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

Year before we went on a cruise with Royal Carribean and we were issued a photo ID card and had to go thru a metal detector and X ray bags and the like before we were allowed back on board.

They must make sure you don't have a pocket knife before they run the ship aground!

 

[bergmen]

Just the normal stuff everybody else has mentioned here. Some major events (air shows for instance) have a general dig through the carry bags, voluntary pocket emptying inspection, easy to bring in a revolver in a pocket.

Strangest one for me was I had a day to just knock around the Capitol in Sacramento, California (wife was taking a seminar). I decided to go into the Capitol building where the Governor's office and legislative chambers are. I approached the entry which was staffed by security guards and I had to pass through a metal detector. As I was emptying everything out of my pockets I realized that I had my Leatherman Wave on my belt (it's always there). I immediately brought it to the attention of the staff thinking they would not let me in or require that I return it to my car.

Surprisingly, they had no issues with it, considered it a tool and waved me in. That was a head scratcher for sure.

Dan