Concealed Carry at Public Events? (Moved from Legal)

I carry nearly all the time.
I intend to always be legal. CCPs from Florida, Utah, and Illinois. No sports events, street fairs, concerts....etc.
My whole family....and my wife's family...and my good friends...are all musicians. We are always in a dive bar or honky-tonk listening to music. The best way to stay safe is to stay sober.

If I had it to do over....I would have taken some martial arts classes when I was younger.
 
drobs said:
I think your interests change as you get older.
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Yep, and sometimes they change whether you want them to or not. This evening, my wife and I are going to attend a public hearing on the solar farms an electrical power company is planning on building around the valley here, and the hearing is being held in the local high school auditorium. The last time my wife and I were in that auditorium was 28 years ago - when our youngest graduated high school. And just like then, we'll be going unarmed because it's illegal for us to carry there even though we both have Idaho Enhanced Concealed Carry Licenses. :thumbdown: I guess I can take consolation in the fact that at my age the cane I'll be carrying won't look at all out of place. ;)
 
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I've been to 3 of my 4 sons graduation ceremonies despite the fact it's illegal to carry there and I don't like crowds. Avoidance is great, but it's not absolute. There are public events that you're going to go anyway.

In the event of a mass murder/active shooter/terrorist attack, I keep an eye on the exits. I worked the SuperBowl one year. The police were carrying out regular active shooter drills before the game, and training snipers. With the police presence and snipers posted during the game, I don't see what one Wayne with a pistol is going to do that someone else hasn't already thought of. I would try to be the first one out the door if shooting starts.
 
wayneinFL said:
I've been to 3 of my 4 sons graduation ceremonies despite the fact it's illegal to carry there and I don't like crowds. Avoidance is great, but it's not absolute. There are public events that you're going to go anyway.

In the event of a mass murder/active shooter/terrorist attack, I keep an eye on the exits. I worked the SuperBowl one year. The police were carrying out regular active shooter drills before the game, and training snipers. With the police presence and snipers posted during the game, I don't see what one Wayne with a pistol is going to do that someone else hasn't already thought of. I would try to be the first one out the door if shooting starts.
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I don't go to sporting events but if I went to the Super Bowl I'd probably be signing my own death certificate by drawing a gun. Some extremely elite federal swat teams are involved in security for those events and provide sniper overwatch. With the tech they have now they'd pick you out of the crowd and nail you.
 
There is something to be said for being aware that you are in the middle of a mass of easy targets when there's nothing you can do about it.

Having said that, music and concerts are a big part of my life, and I have no intention of giving them up entirely. I DO however, think really hard and assess risks and decide some events and places just aren't worth it. It's been a long time since I went to a concert that was filed with intoxicated hooligans. I have very little desire to attend public sporting events, or open-air street festivals, things of that nature. Concerts are reasonably well-protected. Everyone gets searched, they are well-monitored, there is a lot of armed security, and plan on being on camera pretty much everywhere. Notice the mass casualty events that have been associated with concerts mostly happen from outside, like the Vegas shooter or the Ariana Grande event that happened outside the venue. Bataclan was bad, but it was also a highly atypical event of brute force. To pull off a bad event at a concert it takes a lot of audacity and some pretty serious planning.

I don't let the threat of violence control my life. I do what I want, WHERE I want. That doesn't mean I can't weigh risks and decide some things just aren't important enough for me to attend.
 
One should stop being afraid if you don't have a gun on you at events where everyone else has been screened, seriously. Try and have fun. Plus take a few self defense courses that do not utilize weapons.
Then there's the not so obvious weapons like pencils, pens, fingers in eyeballs and a cane (Bo) if you look old enough.
 
plainsdrifter said:
One should stop being afraid if you don't have a gun on you at events where everyone else has been screened, seriously. Try and have fun. Plus take a few self defense courses that do not utilize weapons.
Then there's the not so obvious weapons like pencils, pens, fingers in eyeballs and a cane (Bo) if you look old enough.
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I would agree about not being afraid just because you don't have a gun. That said, the screening at most of the events in question is a joke. It's not that hard to sneak things like guns and knives into such places, if a person is so inclined
 
plainsdrifter said:
One should stop being afraid if you don't have a gun on you at events where everyone else has been screened, seriously. Try and have fun. Plus take a few self defense courses that do not utilize weapons.
Then there's the not so obvious weapons like pencils, pens, fingers in eyeballs and a cane (Bo) if you look old enough.
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For the past couple of weeks I was using a cane because I needed it, something was majorly wrong with my left foot. Between the cane, OTC meds, walking although less and using the cane, and assiduously wiggling my toes every night on getting into bed, it thankfully seems OK now. After some thought at the beginning I decided I didn't want to use the cane when out and about, I thought it makes me look MORE like an easy target, plus how could I effectively get to my gun, and BG could even get it away from me and use it against me. So the once or twice I went to the grocery store I didn't take it, it was only painful in the parking lot from the car to the store, inside the store and coming back I had the grocery cart. Maybe none of this applies to others here who AFAIK are all men, but that was my decision for me as literally a little old lady.
 
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plainsdrifter said:
One should stop being afraid if you don't have a gun on you at events where everyone else has been screened, seriously. Try and have fun. Plus take a few self defense courses that do not utilize weapons.
Then there's the not so obvious weapons like pencils, pens, fingers in eyeballs and a cane (Bo) if you look old enough.
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Well that's insulting. I'm not afraid of anything. When I put my pants on in the morning, I put my holstered gun on. When I take my pants off in the evening to go bed I take my holstered gun off. Carrying a gun is normal everyday thing.

What's out of the norm is having to take my gun off to go a large event which is basically a target for mass shooters and terrorists.

I bet a few of those Israelis that were slaughtered on October 7th, 2023 at the Supernova Open Air Music Fest wished they had away to shoot back.
 
Kleanbore said:
When I was issued a CCW permit in 2008, my intention was to carry only when I believed I needed to.

Of course, there was no way for such a belief to have any real validity.

I carry when I am permitted to do so.

I do not expect to ever have to draw.
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Well, I'll be!

I figured you to have had a CCW permit a lot longer than that!

:D
 
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drobs said:
Well that's insulting. I'm not afraid of anything. When I put my pants on in the morning, I put my holstered gun on. When I take my pants off in the evening to go bed I take my holstered gun off. Carrying a gun is normal everyday thing.

What's out of the norm is having to take my gun off to go a large event which is basically a target for mass shooters and terrorists.

I bet a few of those Israelis that were slaughtered on October 7th, 2023 at the Supernova Open Air Music Fest wished they had away to shoot back.
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Well I'm afraid of clowns. lol Not that I'd run away but I'd never turn my back to a clown. lol
Just last week I went to a Mavericks concert at the beautiful old Fox theater in downtown Tucson. They searched purses, no back packs, had a walk through metal dectector and plenty of security. I felt safe and glad I didn't miss out on one of my favorite bands.
It was the walk back to the parking lot. Oh well, no risk, no reward.
 
I have several issues with my feet and legs, plus, at times, poor balance. My feet always hurt, so, I am not faking anything, when I use a cane or stick for support. I have an injury-induced scar, and an adjacent surgery scar, caused during the repair of the injury, at one knee, that I can show at a security checkpoint, if it comes to that, though the scars are not directly related to my present-day issues. (Yes, I know that one is not “supposed” to have to “demonstrate a need,” if questioned the need for a support device.) Plus, finally, I have aged to the point that I look like a stooped, old grandpa, because I am a stopped old grandpa.

Texas re-wrote its blade laws in 2015, so, I live in a state which has become even more blade-friendly. Unless there are checkpoints that use actual wands, metal detectors, or physical searching, a blade is a consideration, and, generally, if the blade is discovered, no law has been broken. (One does have to weigh the consequences of being banned from the location, temporarily or permanently.)

A camera, or lens, especially one with a metal body, can be used to parry incoming blows/jabs/thrusts, and can be used as an improvised impact weapon. Notably, many music and entertainment venues do NOT allow cameras, or may allow small camera and/or lenses, but not “professional” cameras and/or lenses.

Some places that do not allow cameras may well allow binoculars.

If risk assessment makes it seem wise, I have concealable body armor, which I can wear while armed or unarmed. I would not go to an entertainment venue where I reasonably believed that body armor would be likely to be necessary, but, perhaps I might need to go somewhere, to walk a relative, family member, or VERY close friend out of a situation/location. The armor would be passive protection for myself, as well as anyone I am shielding with my body.

Edited to add: Notably, I do not recommend swinging a camera by its strap, to use it as an improvised flail-type of weapon. While the loss of the camera may be acceptable, I would not want to provide a heavy object to an opponent, who might use it against me. The strap lugs on cameras may well be designed to fail, to save users from strangulation-type injuries. I seem to remember one camera manufacturer having designed strap lugs to fail at 125 pound of pulling force. One could probably exceed that amount of force, during a physical struggle.
 
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Easy.
I don't watch sports, not on TV and sure as heck aint going in person, not if it was free and I could carry, zero interest.
Concerts? The last concert I went to was in the 1980's (Loverboy). I don't like crowds, or being out late at night and concerts usually involve both, no thanks.
So, inability to carry is not stopping me from going to sporting events or concerts; that said, I am disinclined to disarm for the sake of "entertainment".
We have local festivals, music, food trucks, ect... they occur in the afternoon and do not involve metal detectors, THAT is my speed.
 
Personally I'd be more concerned about getting accidentally shot by some noob with a gun in a stadium of 10's of thousands of people. Can you imagine tens of thousands of guns at a football arena? The Super Bowl???
No thanks. I'll be okay until I get back to the car. Safety in numbers.
 
The whole state of California is a no-carry zone for non-residents like me.

And they are holding tenaciously to their ridiculous ten-round magazine limit.

Yet I still go there to visit grandchildren (and their parents). I carry a folder, flashlight, and pepper spray, and keep an unloaded revolver in a locked box in the truck.

As with sports events and concerts, I make my choices, and then live with the consequences. But I'm not going to miss these precious moments just because I can't legally carry.
 
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The thing about heavy crowds is that absent a sniper situation the only people who can practically hurt you are the ones that are basically within arms reach more or less. This is also true for who you can realistically engage. In a very heavy crowd even if I was armed with a firearm I'd be hesitant to use it and instead fall back on alternative means of dealing with the threat.

A gun is only one of many defensive tools. As the poster above mentioned a cane can be a good weapon but one must learn how to use it effectively though and train or its value is limited. Inflicting pain alone will not stop a committed attacker. One needs to be able to inflict damage.

Good training is out there. It's not easy to find but it's worth every penny.
 
Given that Texas specifically prohibits carry at such events, it's a fait acompli. It does mean I give second considerations to attending such events--the few I have any remaining interest in, that is.

As noted above, within such a venue the practical utility is probably very low. And, as also pointed out above, the transit of the parking lot (or lots) probably exposes a person to greater risk than the event does itself.

It's a complicated and complex calculus. Like as not, there's probably not "one way" to approach this question. And, likely, some very specific and hard to differentiate shades of gray.
 
I don’t do crowds, a byproduct of being outnumbered a bazillion to one in Iraq. It keeps my life simple (until my sons graduate high school). I am a very firm believer of what has already been said, stay sober. Once alcohol gets involved everything gets wonky.
 
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