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I think that once the Fair security people calmed down and started treating CHLers with common courtesy, they must have been struck by the fact that we were A) "regular" folks, B) moderate in our behavior, C) respectful and courteous to the security staff and the police, and D) pretty obviously mild mannered and not "criminal" types. And I think that, for the most part, that must have affected our individual experiences with them. The only hint of discord when my wife and I went through security was between the wander and her supervisor, and that was fairly mild. The wander hollered over at another guy, "Hey, can you watch my station? I gotta walk these folks in." Her supervisor, who was right nearby anyway, stepped up and said sotto voce, "No. I'm supposed to walk them in," which she proceeded to do. There was no real argument between them, just a reminder of who was supposed to do what. And both of them were pleasant with us. In fact, I think the supervisor - who was a young woman appearing to be in her early to mid 20s - was kind of in awe that an "elderly" couple who looked so normal would both be carrying guns, and that it wasn't obvious where the guns were stashed. She couldn't stop smiling at us. So we smiled back.

I think this stuff is kind of a two-way street. Granted, they started the unpleasantries in previous years by being overbearing and disrespectful, and by failing to respect the confidentiality of our being armed. But, I think that this year was a turning point, and I believe that their staff will remember next year that, as a group, we were non-threatening and willing to cooperate with their security mandate this year. I think that most will remember that we were, as a group, more trustworthy and calm in our demeanor and bearing than a lot of their other patrons, and they will carry that memory forward into next year. For our part, it is incumbent upon us not to alter their perceptions for the worse the next time we visit the fair.

[just kidding]
Maybe next year, they'll have a CHL entrance like at the Capitol.
[/just kidding]

BrianSW99 wrote:

magillapd wrote: Now this is funny. Of course I took the picture posted above that day at the fair. I happened to be a guy that was wearing a gray underarmour type shirt with a glock hat. If that "guy" you saw was with his wife and 2 older ladies, then I'd have to say that you spotted me!! haha. If so, you would have been right had my IWB holster come in on time. I wore my glock hat to at least bring some type of gun to the fair!!!

If that was you, then I passed you while you were standing by the Cotton Bowl near a set of steps. I was wearing a green shirt, khaki pants and my IDPA hat that has the logo with a gun prominently on the front. I nodded to you as I passed. There wasn't anyone else around you at the time.

If either of you saw a fit young man, wearing a loose fitting guayabera shirt, cargo shorts with a something bulging in the left front pocket a bit (maybe a revolver?), flip-flop sandals, and a beach-comber hat.....

....that wasn't me.

Dragonfighter wrote:BTW, can all those that responded post which gate and time of day they had their encounters? Editing old posts is fine, i intend to pull all of it after the fair and crunch it into some sort of digest.

Wednesday, 09/29, approx. 12:30 p.m., Gate 11 near the Chevy display on the south side of the stadium.

BrianSW99 wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote: ...now the fried beer on the other hand was a huge let-down. I'm just sayin'....

I expected as much. I think it won the creativity award, not necessarily on taste. Now, the fried frito chili pie is what I'm interested in trying :)

It wasn't even that creative. It was basically raviolis, injected with Shiner Bock beer, and deep fried to a state of warmness.... ....that is to say, not really fried.... ....and then drizzled with Cheez Whiz.

Barron76 wrote:

BrettW wrote:I went today with the family, arrived at the south entrance around 1230pm. Received a fairly thorough wanding and already had my CHL in my hand. My wander was fairly clueless, so he shouted over at another wander "hey, have a concealed gun over here!" (nice). Anyway, she came over and escorted me over to the side of the ticket booths and told me to wait for the LEO. 30 seconds later, he showed up. He asked if the address on my ID was still correct and what type of gun I was carrying (not sure why that was important, but I told him). He then told me the two places I couldn't carry (mentioned above), and then just said a few things about being safe and doing all I could to let DPD handle any issues. I was then on my way. No info was collected, LEO was very professional and friendly, and this took only about 60 seconds of my time. So I have no complaints.

Sounds like you & I had the same LEO! I had the exact same experience and questions from the LEO, all in all took about 2 minutes to get thru the gates.
When I got to the security I handed her my CHL she then wanded me, hit my right hip & said "is that it?" then her supervisor came over, she wanded my hip again & told her boss "it's right here!" Needless to say her sup started yelling at her, "I told you if they show you this card DO NOT wand them!" It was pretty funny.

That would have been really funny if she did that to me. I'm left handed.

BTW, I voted in the poll from my cellphone while at the fair. I had intended to vote for "Escorted to DPD at gate to verify CHL and allowed in," but somehow that got tallied as "Had to wait for security supervisor, showed ID and no info collected." I guess I accidentally checked the wrong selection with my big fat finger.

We just got home 10 minutes ago. We got there at about 12:30 this afternoon. We parked in Lot 11 and entered through the gate by the Chevy display.

We approached the wander from an oblique angle and had our IDs out and held up for her to see before she could even point her wand at us. She very discreetly said, "I need to have my supervisor escort you in to verify your ID." We only waited about 5 seconds because her supervisor was right there. The supervisor walked us over to a spot a few feet from the ticket booths and asked us to wait until she could bring the DPD officer over to check our IDs. She was back with him in under 30 seconds. He checked out IDs and told us to enjoy the fair. Nobody seemed interested in writing anything down. The security supervisor told us in low tones about the Cotton Bowl and the Old Mill being off-limits, we smiled and thanked her and the officer, and we were on our way.

All in all, I have to say that they handled it well and were courteous. It goes without saying that it would have been better to be able to just walk on through, but in as much as they were wanding everybody, and presumably for legitimate reasons, they actually seemed like they were as interested in keeping things on the low down as we were and were respectful of our confidentiality. I think that they must have gotten enough flack after last year's fiasco to understand that they don't need to treat us like criminals.

I have no complaints about how it went.

...now the fried beer on the other hand was a huge let-down. I'm just sayin'....