Arkansas Carry

Attended the gun show this weekend at the Hot Springs Convention Center, with my grandson. Upon arrival I found my self in a pickle. The fellow at the table, outside of the exhibit hall (within the building) was checking firearms. When I asked, he informed me that concealed weapons were prohibited in the convention center! I knew full well that the entrance that we used was not posted as such. I looked at 10 or 12 other entrances and found only 2 that were properly posted.
We quickly found a restroom, where I unloaded. We went through the line where my firearm received a green dot. We then entered and enjoyed the show.
If there had been a LEO standing by, I could have found myself in cuffs and off to jail.

Lesson learned: next time, don't ask.

There is no valid reason to have people unholster and unload their concealed defensive handguns. Doing so creates a risk of discharge.

Regardless of being posted or not, you CANNOT take a loaded firearm into a gun show. Before you say that makes no sense, don't say it, that's just the way it is. I wouldn't go with the "don't ask" either. Sometimes they have someone at the exits wanding the people leaving.

DocGlock wrote:

Of course you can. It happens all the time. There may or may not be a trespass issue involved, but there's no law that says you mustn't (absent the required signage).


Yeah, good luck telling me that I can't leave without getting searched.

Slamar wrote:


The law states clearly that EACH entrance must be posted. Additionally, the person you spoke to was probably just repeating what he had been told.

Every gun show I have attended has, in one way or another, indicated that ALL guns must be unloaded and checked. When I have asked I was told that this included CC handguns. I imagine this has to do with liability insurance more than anything else.

BUT- it raises an interesting point. LEGALLY they can not prohibit you from CC unless they have the proper signage with the proper wording. They may very well deny you entrance ("we reserve the right to refuse service..."), but you would NOT be in violation of any law. So you can put any concern about that to rest. If you refused to leave, you MIGHT have a trespassing charge, but I imagine that would only come into play in extreme cases.

Personally, I think the whole policy stinks and flies in the face of everything the gun community should be standing for. We can shop at the mall and even at the gun store while carrying, but heaven forbid we go to a gun show with a concealed handgun.

The guy checking guns was Lions Club Volunteer and was very polite and accommodating. However IF a LEO had been within earshot, I could have been arrested and put into the system because the Convention Center hadn't properly posted the entrances.
I cleared my weapon, got my green dot, and continued to carry it in my conceal holster. If I had it to to over, it would be 'Don't ask, Don't tell'!
Also I suspect that the people wanding is to ensure no one walks off with the one of the many items on display for which they don't have a receipt. but who knows?

Slamar wrote:


No. Not at all. Absolutely no.

RevNate wrote:


To be fair, it could happen. People are arrested all the time when they've committed no crime.

KBCraig wrote:


But it wasn't the convention center that was banning guns, it was the event located inside the exhibit hall, which he hadn't entered yet. He was fine as long as he didn't enter the hall with his gun.

KBCraig wrote:


It could happen. It is always possible to come across someone in uniform that has neither the intelligence nor the capacity for reason and judgment required to be an effective LEO. But the law is clear:



My points were and remain to be:
1) If each entrance is not posted, the place is not prohibited. While it would be less than advisable to walk into an entrance which is clearly posted and argue that the back door was not, it still remains that if the front entrance did not have a sign saying "carrying a handgun is prohibited," then this is not a criminal matter. The law is very explicit in its wording. If this standard is not met by the "entity," the citizen is not at fault. It does not matter how much the "entity" opposes your carrying- if they have not done their job to post the signs that is their problem.

2) It is unrealistic to conclude that the situation as described here could have resulted in an arrest. If it had, however, it is not even remotely near the realm of reality to imagine that it might have ever have gone as far as a prosecution. There was no criminal act. There was a failure to properly communicate on the part of the "entity," but there was no criminal act on the part of the individual.

Additionally, I would say that this is a good example of why it is vital for us to know what the law says and understand it at least as well- preferable more so- as any LEO with whom we may come into contact. Being able to state one's case, pointing out the legally mandated posting requirements, would have gone a long way in this case IF it had come to the point of contact with any LEO.