CCW @ concerts?

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Lucky

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If Led Zepplin were to do another tour, what's the deal with your carry piece and concerts? I haven't been to a big one in a while, do they search everyone like airports? Can a guy with a license carry? If they don't let you in are there lockers for guns, or are you to leave it in your car?
 
All the concerts and sporting events (even aquariums) that I've been to have people wanding or asking you to lift/open your shirt. They aren't very thorough though, so I'm not sure what they intend to find. I went to a Bengals game last fall, and all the guy did was feel under my arms. I guess he wanted to make sure I wasn't wearing a shoulder holster? Wouldn't want to carry to one of those places anyway, too many people bumping into you. I usually just take my knife.
 
do they search everyone like airports?
Depends on the artist and the venue.
Can a guy with a license carry?
Depends on the state. It also depends on what you mean by "Can a guy with a license carry". In most states, the property owner can ask him to leave and charge him with trespass if he doesn't. So legally, he can carry, but they venue may not have to let him in. In other states, he may not be legal to carry.
If they don't let you in are there lockers
Again, venue dependant, but as most security is done before you get in the building, it's unlikely.
 
No in NC.

I've actually never been to a concert that did not have big "no weapons" signs. Ignoring those signs has different repercussions in different states. In some, a violation can cost you your CCW.

Mike
 
I've been to well over 50 large scale concerts in the past 5 years and I can think of only a few non-rock concerts, such as a few jazz shows where I HAVEN'T been frisked/searched/wanded. I even once had to take out and completely unfold a garbage bag I had in my pocket to substitute a raincoat. If it's legal to carry into a concert, I'd still advise against it purely for the scene it could potentially cause.

Another thing to keep in mind is that most, if not all concert security is either hired into the show or works at the venue and might not have the same grasp on gun laws as gun owners and/or law enforcement.
 
When I saw TOOL a couple of months ago, they were wanding people. I didn't take a pistol with me. But then again, I had planned on a beer or two anyway.

thats funny, I have seen TOOL 10 times since 1995, and the do indeed wand people every time. the trouble is, most of the "kids" at TOOL shows have so much leather and studs, buckles, etc on that the cursory wanding seems ineffective. Point of fact, I took a Surefire D3 and a Benchmade folder to the last show @ the Palace of Auburn Hills, and the "wander" essentially just passed me over. I guess being dressed in bluejeans and a T-shirt garners less attention than a bunch of straps, buckles, and spikes.


In addition, Michigan prohibits carry at facilities that seat more than 2500 people, so ccw was out of the question.
 
Outside of whatever state laws say it seems to me that security depends on what kind of crowd the performer will attract. If some gangbanger drugdealer rapper with several violent felony indictments pending is performing expect metal detectors, wanding, and the SWAT on standby outside. At the other extreme if it's Tony Bennett you'd probably see the only thing security is doing is making sure no one is sneaking in. Profiling? Sure is and I don't blame them. I was at one amusement park about 20 yrs ago when they stopped selling the little souvenir baseball bats because they feraed them being used as weapons by the crowd going to the concert there (they were probaly right if you ask me).

Never have seen anyplace that provided a locker for a concert. I've seen places that won't even let a LEO carry if they weren't on official business.
 
Too many people = more likelihood that some drunk idjit will grab a gun, or at least try to grab one, from a holster.

I wonder how long it's going to be before some buncha terrorists tries to drive a truck bomb into an outdoor show...
 
Attend a symphony orchestra concert or opera... then you can most likely carry. I've never seen someone wanded at the symphony... problem solved :)
 
In Washington state there are also laws against carrying at music festivals and such. I also do not like carrying at these venues because of the insane amount of people plus I will some times have a beer or two.
 
In Florida, it is legal to carry into a concert, but not to athletic events.

For example, if Led Zeppelin came to Amway Arena, you could carry.
But it would be illegal to carry into the same stadium when the Orlando Magic are playing. Stupid, but that's the law here.
 
That's probably a bad idea. If you've got a folder on your belt it's different from a covert knife taped to your calf. Up here it'd be the difference between giving the folder to a friend and having police come decide whether charges should be laid.
 
I wouldn't suggest the knife idea either. A majority of the times I've been searched it's a full leg, arm and torso frisking. A couple concerts even had police patrolling the security as well. A concealed knife might have an adverse effect.
 
I carry to some sporting events and concerts. It seems like country music is more lax on the security screening for some reason (make sense due to the demographics) than the rock concerts. If I see people getting wanded or having to lift their shrt I go leave it in my car, which I really hate doing. I don't go into mosh pit or packed-like-sardines areas at concerts anymore. Not my idea of a good time.
 
I wonder how long it's going to be before some buncha terrorists tries to drive a truck bomb into an outdoor show...
The media is getting to you. Yes terrorists are a danger, and yes plans of action should exist for any location.
However most high profile terrorists attacks have been anything but random locations or targeting random people.

From the Oklahoma City incident where individuals were intentionaly bombing the regional headquarters of the agency responsible for the Waco incident.
To 9/11 where terrorists intentionaly targeted the World Trade Organization and the pentagon (and the crashed jet going to the whitehouse.)
The World Trade Center was a worldwide symbol of the World Trade Organization and contained many entities part of the world trade organization which manipulates and manages worldwide markets.
Guess what kinda of nations recieve the short end from many of those manipulations? You guessed it, the type of places many of those terrorists were from.
The people on the planes might have been random people, and some of those working in the buildings and emergency personel responding might have been random people, but it was not random people targeted.

I am not making excuses for either of those vicious acts, merely pointing out that it was not just terrorists targeting some random large building. They were specificly targeted for specific reasons, and involved training and funding for over a year prior to specificly attack a specific location.

So yes be ready to deal with terrorists, but don't just drink the koolaid and think every place with lots of people is a likely random target. So far that has not been the case. It could happen with a lone nutjob or two, but so far the types of terrorists successful have been a little more selective in thier targets than just some large cluster of people.
 
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Most of the concerts I've been to, I could have gotten my gun into, which surprises me, since it was country music. You know rednecks are all drunks and gun-toting. ;)

Now, the club I went to in Atlanta (House) for a buddy's birthday... They should hire the man at the door to work frisk inmates or something. I doubt I could have gotten a frigin 9mm round in, and they weren't using a metal detector.
 
Personally, I do not carry a firearm into any concert area. Not only are most places posted, I consider concerts quite low-danger areas.

Doesn't mean I don't still have other means of defense, however.
 
I wonder how long it's going to be before some buncha terrorists tries to drive a truck bomb into an outdoor show...


How is your pistol going to stop a truck bomb?
 
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