State Fair Report

[NcongruNt]

That is the way it should be. I cant believe the management would allow the staff to ANNOUNCE to the public that you may have a gun on you. You would think that they would make a point to educate the staff on how they should properly handle a CHL.

side note......
Personally I am not to worried about who knows I carry but I do know many people are very sensitive about that information and that should be respected.

I agree. Does anyone know of a useful contact to communicate our concerns? There has been recent legislation passed regarding the privacy of people regarding CHL status. To have people make a lot of noise about individuals legally carrying in public goes counter to our expectation of privacy regarding our CHLs. If perhaps the TSRA has resources available to make the contact for CHLers as a whole (as opposed to several individuals talking to some public relations persons(s)), I believe this could be addressed and remedied in an effective way.

[Grumpy_Grampa]

Thanks a lot for the reports folks!

I years past it was a real hassle at times as they would make you wait for an officer... Taking the wife and #1 grandson tomorrow afternoon..

[Shaggy]

This is all good info. The wife and I, along with her parents are going tonight and out of all the places I usually frequent in DFW, the area around Fair Park is probably the one where I would most want to be armed.

I remember Crossfire bringing this up in the class back in June and its good to see that they are in deed gun friendly at the fair and for the most part "educated" about CHL holders.

Hopefully my experience tonight will be a positive one as well.... now the hard decision.... do I take the 19, the 22 or the 27.........

[Dragonfighter]

Wow, I had just the opposite experience: I showed the guy my CHL, he glanced at it, smiled and handed it back, turned the wand sideways and went through the motions of making a sweep -- about a foot away -- and told me I was good to go.

That is the way it should be. I cant believe the management would allow the staff to ANNOUNCE to the public that you may have a gun on you. You would think that they would make a point to educate the staff on how they should properly handle a CHL.

Afew years ago when they had the supervisor thing going, I had one announce at the top of his lungs to the other wander, "I have to go up, this guy's got a gun." My wife was already inside and thought, "he didn't just say that!" and turned to look. There were several people our age (old) in line and they just rolled their eyes or looked nonplussed. When I reported this to the supervisor who came out he said, "We WILL be re-training." and apologized. That was the best experience that year. But I digress.

We went yesterday, the wander just looked at the card and said alrighty...I beat the wife and kids in :-)

[pedalman]

Hopefully my experience tonight will be a positive one as well.... now the hard decision.... do I take the 19, the 22 or the 27.........

Take the 19. Mine rode comfortably in my CTAC when I was at our county fair.

[Shaggy]

Well, it was definitely a positive experience. Went through the gate at the end of MLK, the wand lady started to wand as I was showing my CHK and DL then stopped and waved me through to the ticket taking lady on the other side of the turnstyle who took my ticket and then referred me to officer Bill about 20 feet away. He came over to meet me and immediately seemed pleased that I had my CHL. He said to have a good time, enjoy the fair and was glad that I was there. Then he went on to say that he hoped it never had to leave wherever I was keeping it. LOL I was in khaki shorts with an untucked casual short sleeve shirt and sneakers with ankle socks so there weren't too many places it could be

I took the 27 IWB and had my extra mag in a small pocket just below the main right pocket that almost seems like it was made as a mag pouch.

The wife and I had been to the fair before and know the neighborhood that its in, but this was a first for the inlaws. I actually missed the exit due to traffic and ended up having to go down to Metropolitan Ave, due the loop under and then back up to Pennsylvania Ave out to the park. Heh, it was a bit of an eye opener for them and said that they were glad I had my "buddy" with me.

[DoubleJ]

I took the 27 IWB and had my extra mag in a small pocket just below the main right pocket that almost seems like it was made as a mag pouch.

You might consider how fast you can reload with a mag on the same side as your holster.

[Captain]

As someone still waiting to get his CHL... I was actually extremely annoyed that I couldn't bring my little ole pocket knife with me (which is a tool-type knife... not a KBAR or other clearly defensive type knife-not that it should matter!), but I knew CHLer's could bring in a firearm. I told the guy, "You know how crazy it is that I can't bring in a box cutter but in a month I'll be able to legally bring a gun in?" He just laughed and repeated that I had to leave it in my car. Crappy thing is, I never remember to leave it behind... I always use it and don't think twice about the fact that it's in my pocket...

Glad to hear when I go next year it won't be a hassle to bring a firearm... I was actually wondering how it would work whilst going through security the second time - so good info on standard protocol here.

[Tahoe132]

My state fair experience was interesting but good. I am really glad they welcome carriers there. My girlfriend and I rode the Dart. Of coarse, she left the paper that I had all of the buses that we needed to take in the car. So some how we ended up in the middle of down town Dallas in some bus station with some pretty interesting people..... Lets just say I was glad I was carrying because two different times two different people that were clearly on drugs were hitting on my girlfriend, and one tried to snatch her purse. I am just thankful nothing got to the point that I had to pull it, but it was a nice security blanket.

Anyways when I got to the fair, I was unsure of the CHL polices. I asked both of the security people with the wands what I needed to do if I had a "CHL" and neither of them knew what a "CHL" was. I went to the ticket booth, and asked the lady selling tickets what I needed to do if I have a CHL. She also had no clue what a CHL was, and told me to go ask the police officer..... who was sitting in a booth.... about 50 feet behind the gates. I just knew at this point we were going to have a fantastic day, because I did not feel like riding the dart buses and then (if I ever found it) the dart rail for another hour and a half to just put my gun up.

So I went walking to find another entrance, and luckily found a cop. I informed him of my situation, and he told me to walk up to them with my license out. I returned to them as they shook their heads whispering "here comes that weird guy again." I showed them my license. They examended it, and said that I can go in, but I needed to also show my license to the cop who was at that booth I mentioned earlier. I walked up the the cop and showed it to him. He looked at me like I was an idiot. I told him that security told me that I needed to show him that. He said ok and pretty much blew me off. I finally I was in.