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Hi All,

I'm planning to visit the gun show at the George R. Brown in Houston this weekend. I'm new to carrying a conceal weapon and am still trying to understand the subtle nuances of when to carry. What's the process/restrictions at a gun show here in Texas. Thanks!

TXMinuteman wrote:Hi All,

I'm planning to visit the gun show at the George R. Brown in Houston this weekend. I'm new to carrying a conceal weapon and am still trying to understand the subtle nuances of when to carry. What's the process/restrictions at a gun show here in Texas. Thanks!

Welcome to the forum Minuteman first of all!!!

Gun shows are usually 30.06 posted and are compliant. I wouldn't try conceal carrying to a gun show under any circumstances. What you will likely have to do is bring your gun in ,unloaded of course, and have an officer zip-tie it so the action won't go into battery

In the Houston area you can not bring in ammo, unload gun and leave mag in car.

If the convention center is owned by the city of Houston, then the signs are not valid.

I carry into the shows in Amarillo unless Im looking for new holster or something else that would require me to expose my handgun, then I'll check it at the door and have it secured. You should not carry a loaded gun into a show if you plan to remove it from the holster while at the show.

flb_78 wrote:If the convention center is owned by the city of Houston, then the signs are not valid.

I carry into the shows in Amarillo unless Im looking for new holster or something else that would require me to expose my handgun, then I'll check it at the door and have it secured. You should not carry a loaded gun into a show if you plan to remove it from the holster while at the show.

Keep it in the holster and concealed and you're legal unless the city council is having a meeting at the gun show.

Great! I figured the gun wouldn't be loaded (but didn't know I couldn't carry my magazine in a pocket). I'll be looking for conceal carry holsters and would be exposing the gun. I also wondered about the signage restrictions.

Glad to be on board. This is a great forum. I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions and stories as I continue to carry.

Thanks again.

Carry your mag in your pocket if you want. You can buy another mag 20ft away and ammo at the same table usually.

rm9792 wrote:Carry your mag in your pocket if you want. You can buy another mag 20ft away and ammo at the same table usually.

When the officer zip-ties your gun, he normally asks you if you have any ammunition on you. Others might have a different idea, but I wouldn't lie to him and I would have left the magazine and any other cartridges in the vehicle.

I prefer not to walk the long distances to/from the show carrying an empty gun and a lot of cash. My desire for safety overrides a de facto security guards ridiculous question. I would never lie to an officer in performance of his official duties. Again, ammo and mags are right there so what difference does it make if I carry some on me? I am not legally nor morally obliged to hand over my ammo or sacrifice my safety to attend a show on city property illegally posted.

rm9792 wrote:I prefer not to walk the long distances to/from the show carrying an empty gun and a lot of cash. My desire for safety overrides a de facto security guards ridiculous question. I would never lie to an officer in performance of his official duties. Again, ammo and mags are right there so what difference does it make if I carry some on me? I am not legally nor morally obliged to hand over my ammo or sacrifice my safety to attend a show on city property illegally posted.

If you admit to having the ammo on you, at the officer's discretion, you may have to discard it to enter (or return it to your car).

You can buy more to replace it in the show, but you may lose whatever you carry in.

More bad news for you might be the lack of concealed holsters at the show. I went to the last two shows (Pasadena and Reliant) looking for holsters and all I could find were cheap nylon holsters (and the cell pall holster). Maybe I missed something but I sure looked hard.
Good luck.

All I really ever see are OWB leather or Paddles and the nylon universal style. Bad place to buy holsters.

To me, prohibiting CC at a gun show, is like prohibiting nudity at a nudist convention. Hey, I'm a new CHL, so what do I know.

It seems like someone with a CHL would be guilty of intentionally failing to conceal if they present a handgun to be zip tied, so the safest thing to do legally is ignore the invalid sign and carry concealed.