I had been doing yard work prior to heading over and accidently left a rather large pocket knife in my back pocket. Fortunately, I remembered the knife before I got to the wand and took it to a friend's shop for storage. I did carry a Kimber pepper blaster on me that passed through the wand undetected. (Good test I thought)
I did not CHL as I planned to enjoy some adult beverages while there. However, I ran into a couple of friends there who had different experiences at the gate with their CHLs. Both used the "public street" argument at their respective entrance points. The first got nowhere and took his gun back to his vehicle. The second had a Galveston cop step up and state CHLs were exempt from Madis Gras "weapon" rules.