Ft Worth Enforcing Ammo Ban at Will Rogers

[ScottDLS]

Took this out of the other thread per TAM Request, but this garbage has to STOP!!!

Well, to heck with that. I did t mind having a cop unload my weapon, but when they told me I had to either throw away $50 worth of ammunition or walk it back to my car, I decided that was the very last time I'll try the Ft Worth gun show. I'm too old and cranky for that crap. After it took me 35 minutes to get across the 30 east to 35 north interchange, I headed up to Cabelas. My money spends just as good there.

I DO MIND UNLOADING MY WEAPON! If I might ask, how did they know you were carrying? And, the FW Police made you unload? Why doesn't city hall and the State Fair do this too. The AG won't do anything about it...

No, they didn't make me unload, because I told them I thought the policy was in violation of the law, and complete cow manure, and that I was going to find some other way to spend my afternoon.

I was thinking that they would probably make me unload, but I didn't think they'd make me throw away $50 worth of perfectly good ammo. There's a table with three cops sitting at it, and then it looked to me you pass through a metal detector. So, there was no getting in with a concealed gun, at least that I could see. Maybe someone else did and got away with it, in which case, I say Good for YOU!!! So I surrendered to the inevitable, approached the table, and said "I guess I have to declare a gun here?" The officer asked, "are you carrying a loaded gun?" When I said yes, he said there's two ways I can enter: (1) You can unload the gun here and empty the magazines, but you can't carry any loose ammo into the show. You can leave the ammo with us, but you won't get it back. OR, (2) you can walk back to your car, unload the gun and magazine(s), leave the ammo in your car, and come back in."

Well, I'm an old man, and I have a bum knee and a bad back (both of which were already hurting by the time I got to the entrance), and that was a long walk from the parking lot - no way I was going to walk back out to the car, then walk back into the venue. It just wasn't worth it. (BTW, with all the construction going on around there, parking options are pretty reduced.) I told the nice officer that there is no way in hades that I was going to throw away $50 worth of premium self defense ammo (46 rounds of 135 grain Hornady +P Critical Duty, $24.49/box of 25 at Bass Pro where I bought it), just so I could also pay the entry fee on top of that. I told him that I thought it was cow manure, and I told him that I know what the law says, and YOU know what the law says, and I can't believe that a law enforcement officer is helping the city to violate the law. Then I said that I'd find something else to do with my afternoon. He had no answer to that, so I left.

And I did find something else to do with my afternoon. I went to Cabelas instead and spent $2,000 on a thermal rifle scope I might have bought at the show if the promoters weren't such mullet-heads. They can all go pound sand. I'm never going to the Ft Worth gun show again until they pull their heads out of the dark places they've been keeping them.

I'll be sending a letter to the gunshow management. I know it will do bupkis, but I want them to know that their foolishness is costing their vendors money, and it will make me feel better. When it starts costing their vendors more to pay for booth space than they make in sales profits, they'll stop attending the show; and hopefully the organizers will go out of business.

Not that I have an opinion about it.

But honestly, I'd like to end the conversation there, because I didn't start off to hijack Crossfire's thread. Sorry about that Crossfire.

[ScottDLS]

What I would do in the above case is unload in the car, go in the show, buy some ammo, and reload in the bathroom stall.

[carlson1]

I would like to see everyone just skip the gun show and if they see they are loosing business maybe they would make a change.

[stroo]

What is new here?? I haven't been to a gun show in the last ten years where they didn't require you to present your unloaded gun to them, they zip tied it and then they asked if you had ammo on you.

[MeMelYup]

What exactly did the sign say. Here is the central part of the state the show sponsor exhibits a sign that is close to 30.06 and there is usually a police officer sitting at a desk by the entrance. I ignore it and walk in as it is unenforceable and I consider the sign and check is for firearms being sold.

[ScottDLS]

What is new here?? I haven't been to a gun show in the last ten years where they didn't require you to present your unloaded gun to them, they zip tied it and then they asked if you had ammo on you.

And what do they arrest you for if you lie and say no as you walk in with a concealed loaded handgun?

I've walked into this same gun show last year past a sign saying no loaded firearms. There was a cop around, but apparently TAM said this year there is a metal detector. If they can do this at the Will Rodgers for the gun show, what's to stop them from doing it at State Fair or Ft Worth or Dallas City Hall?

[mdwarchichoke]

I can skip it and spend my time drafting letters to the AG, State Senators, and local City officials.

[carlson1]

Also if it is illegal to post signs and prevent carrying it is sad that Law Enforcement Officers are enforcing an illegal activity.

[bblhd672]

I was going to the gun show but decided after getting on the way that it wasn't worth the hassle I went through last time. Exactly like TAM said, I ended up walking back to my car and unloading my gun.
LTC's banding together to boycott the shows is the only recourse likely to change this, if we are any significant number of the attendees.
Lone Star Gun Shows and Premier Gun Shows are dead to me.

[Bitter Clinger]

What I would do in the above case is unload in the car, go in the show, buy some ammo, and reload in the bathroom stall.

Perfect! Only the morons that came up with this illegal show killer policy could fail to realize that ammunition is sold at a gun show! I think I am going to start doing this as well, just because I can!!!

[The Annoyed Man]

What I would do in the above case is unload in the car, go in the show, buy some ammo, and reload in the bathroom stall.

Perfect! Only the morons that came up with this illegal show killer policy could fail to realize that ammunition is sold at a gun show! I think I am going to start doing this as well, just because I can!!!

That was my thought exactly. But I was so generally steamed at that point, and did not want to make the walk twice, so I just left. I'm done with them.

[TexasJohnBoy]

I've never understood why they want you to unload a concealed/holstered handgun.
The gun I carry for self defense is not the gun I intend to sell or trade at a show.

When it hits the holster in the morning, it doesn't come out till it goes in the safe or shoot at the range. Hopefully it will never come out to shoot anything other than steel plates, cardboard or paper.

[stroo]

So its the metal detector that's new.

In any case, you can either decide to unload your gun or not go to the show. That's essentially the choice we've always have had.

[JustSomeOldGuy]

So is this how the Ft. Worth PD get's it's practice ammo? By shaking down LTC's at the gun show? Presumably the show organizers know about this, so why didn't they supply the cops a carton of zip loc bags and a few rolls of paired numbered tickets. You drop your rounds in the baggie, they drop one of the tickets in and give you the other. On the way out you present your ticket and get YOUR ammo back. Or is reading and matching an 8 digit number beyond their skill level?

[rotor]

I am assuming that the Ft Worth gun show is on public property. Was it posted 30.06 or 30.07? We know that they can post 30.06/07 according to the AG but it is not enforceable if the show was on government property. What offense would you have committed if you had entered with a loaded gun? Would the local police have legally been able to search you for a concealed handgun and what would they have charged you with if they found it?
Incidentally, several months ago at the Wichita Falls gunshow there was a ND of a shotgun. A vendor brought a loaded shotgun in and several minor injuries occurred. The Wichita Falls gunshow promoter posted 30.06/07 in 2016 but after my discussion with the city manager these were removed. The local gunshow also has the all guns must be empty signs with a bunch of LEO at the admission desk but I just walk in concealed and loaded (and legal).
Although complaining here may sound like it is reaching people I would suggest that a nasty review on Facebook and a call to boycott is more effective on that social media.