Texas State Fair 2012

[C-dub]

Quick question, as I plan on going to the fair this weekend. Did you verbalize that you were carrying to the person doing the wanding or just instruct that you needed to speak with an officer?

I didn't. I told the wander that I needed to see a supervisor and then merely held my CHL so the supervisor could see what my intentions were. There are signs at the entrances that describe this procedure and that's pretty much what I did. I figure that's how they've been trained, so I would try and follow their procedure as best I could. The supervisor told me to follow her to the officer. I handed my DL and CHL to the officer, who did not ask if I was carrying. He handed both licenses back to me and said to have a nice day.

Never did I say I have a gun or am "carrying" or that I am a CHL. I kept it quiet and thankfully, so did they.

[C-dub]

This is our first year doing the Fair with a baby. He's 8 months old so he's not going to get much out of it, nor are we going to really be up for doing any rides, and we don't want to fight crowds. So any tips on a good day to go where it won't be that crowded? I was thinking of taking a day off work to do it. Just so we can relax there a bit and not feel rushed or crowded. My father in law (who is not a senior citizen) usually goes on Senior's Day. Says its usually the least crowded and least amount of rude people.

He might be right, but I've never been on senior day. I would say any weekday would be better than any weekend. Friday's are going to be a little busier because many schools let out so the kids can attend the fair.

Without a kid that you have to keep up with, you will probably get more out of the fair than I did. I spent most of my day chasing after my daughter and her friend making sure they had tickets and stayed out of trouble and they had a safe day.

[9mmfan]

didn't see the signs, but... Approached the wander with DL & CHL in hand. As I was beginning to ask to see the supervisor, she disinterestedly waved the wand vaguely in the space between my wife and me and waved us through before I could finish asking. She realized then that I was about to say something, and asked me "what?" I said "nothing, never mind." The missus, my Glock 19 and I went on in. Wondered why I bothered packin' when there was such a crackerjack team out front. Good weather, ate a fair amount of junk, crowd wasn't too bad, as long as my gallbladder doesn't get mad at me in a bit for all the fried stuff, I'll chalk it up as a lovely day. Oh, Boris the 1200 lb. prize hog was very impressive in all of his napping glory. Wouldn't want to run into something like him in the woods.

[C-dub]

didn't see the signs, but... Approached the wander with DL & CHL in hand. As I was beginning to ask to see the supervisor, she disinterestedly waved the wand vaguely in the space between my wife and me and waved us through before I could finish asking. She realized then that I was about to say something, and asked me "what?" I said "nothing, never mind." The missus, my Glock 19 and I went on in. Wondered why I bothered packin' when there was such a crackerjack team out front. Good weather, ate a fair amount of junk, crowd wasn't too bad, as long as my gallbladder doesn't get mad at me in a bit for all the fried stuff, I'll chalk it up as a lovely day. Oh, Boris the 1200 lb. prize hog was very impressive in all of his napping glory. Wouldn't want to run into something like him in the woods.

Glad you weren't discovered first and then had to explain.

From what little I know about hogs I imagine that if you did into a beast of that size in the woods, you might be able to out run him on your own. I don't think the wild ones get much bigger than 350-400 pounds. Any bigger and they are unable to move very well and are unable to sustain that weight due to the volume of intake required to do so.

[fratermus]

Quick question, as I plan on going to the fair this weekend. Did you verbalize that you were carrying to the person doing the wanding or just instruct that you needed to speak with an officer?

I hold up my DL and CHL beside my face and make eye contact as I approach the wand-wrangler. They say "see that officer over there" or similar, pointing me in the right direction. No drama.

BTW, I 2nd seniors days at the fair. Much more pleasant. And I purposefully avoid DISD day there each year.

[laked3]

Went to the State Fair today (Wednesday). Missed the signs but pulled out my CHL and the wander pointed me to the LEO. He asked me for my DL along with my CHL which I handed him and he then told me that I could not go into the Cotton Bowl nor the Old Mill Inn, neither of which I cared to go in today anyway. I thanked the officer and moved along as a debate was pointless and I was out to have a good time and nothing else.

My friends told me the wander was looking at me up and down trying to see where I had the weapon concealed; we got a pretty good laugh out of that.

It appeared no one was going into the Cotton Bowl and there was no event in there. I'm aware if a sporting event were taking place no concealed carry but what if it is the 4th of July fireworks show? According to the law, it would not be among those places prohibited. Just because the facility is sometimes used for sporting events should not mean it is permanently off limits to concealed carry unless there is some unwritten rule somewhere, it seems.

I meant to go up to the Old Mill Inn to see if they had a 51% sign up but forgot to do that. Apparently it is a restaurant and bar.

That was my experience so all is not perfect there but I did have a great time and even rode DART to Fair Park and never had to unholster my weapon, so it was a great trip!

[Keith B]

Went to the State Fair today (Wednesday). Missed the signs but pulled out my CHL and the wander pointed me to the LEO. He asked me for my DL along with my CHL which I handed him and he then told me that I could not go into the Cotton Bowl nor the Old Mill Inn, neither of which I cared to go in today anyway. I thanked the officer and moved along as a debate was pointless and I was out to have a good time and nothing else.

My friends told me the wander was looking at me up and down trying to see where I had the weapon concealed; we got a pretty good laugh out of that.

It appeared no one was going into the Cotton Bowl and there was no event in there. I'm aware if a sporting event were taking place no concealed carry but what if it is the 4th of July fireworks show? According to the law, it would not be among those places prohibited. Just because the facility is sometimes used for sporting events should not mean it is permanently off limits to concealed carry unless there is some unwritten rule somewhere, it seems.

I meant to go up to the Old Mill Inn to see if they had a 51% sign up but forgot to do that. Apparently it is a restaurant and bar.

That was my experience so all is not perfect there but I did have a great time and even rode DART to Fair Park and never had to unholster my weapon, so it was a great trip!

I think the LEO's have been told the Old Mill is a 51% location, but it is not according to TABC. I have also heard they say it is 30.06 posted, but apparently isn't either. So, I believe it is a misunderstanding on the part of the folks down there.

As for the Cotton Bowl, the facility is not off limits unless there is a game going on or some other prohibited event.

[hobbes]

This is our first year doing the Fair with a baby. He's 8 months old so he's not going to get much out of it, nor are we going to really be up for doing any rides, and we don't want to fight crowds. So any tips on a good day to go where it won't be that crowded? I was thinking of taking a day off work to do it. Just so we can relax there a bit and not feel rushed or crowded. My father in law (who is not a senior citizen) usually goes on Senior's Day. Says its usually the least crowded and least amount of rude people.

We went last year with our 8-month old and went on Senior day to avoid the crowds. As a bonus, it's also Cinemark-ticket-stub-gets-you-in-free day, thus leaving more money for unhealthy food! We're considering going Wednesday or Thursday this time, figuring they're both probably not very crowded and definitely less-crowded than weekends.

Last year I didn't see the wander until I was getting wanded, so I didn't have a chance to mention my CHL. Despite the "beep," I was waved through. Maybe pushing a baby stroller had something to do with it... Doesn't give me great confidence that they're actually keeping illegal weapons out of the fairgrounds, but perhaps at 11am on Senior's day the wanders aren't that alert....

[packina45]

We moved back to Texas in 2008 from Louisiana, and had been carrying on Florida non-resident permits. Went to the Fair last year, showed Texas DL and Florida CHL.

The LEO looked at mine closely, and asked what state it was from. I told him and he said, OK, that's a good one. Then he asked why I had not updated my address to reflect my new Texas address. I explained to him that I had notified Florida of the new address, as required, but they charged a fee for new plastic (and didn't require that you get it).

He just said "oh, ok" then briefly glanced at my wife's Florida CHL and Texas DL with a grin and said "backup, huh? You folks have a good day".

[Ark03]

I took a day off of work and went to the State Fair on Friday. When I got to the wander, I showed him my CHL and asked to see the supervisor, and he said "he's the guy in the hat." Right as he said that, the supervisor wondered behind the gates. So, I bought tickets for the family, went through the gates to chase the supervisor, and he was no where to be found. In the interest of following rules, I went up to the LEO and showed him my CHL, which he looked at and said "have a nice day."

My wife said "what's to keep anyone from waltzing in without getting wanded" ... evidently nothing.

A quick aside: We let the kid (3.5) choose two rides, and one he chose was some kind of pirate maze, including a rocky bridge and slides. While he was tall enough to do it himself, the ticket-taker thought he may get stuck, and said one of us could go with him for free. I was concerned about exposing myself climbing over the obstacles, so I asked my pregnant wife if she could do it. She wasn't happy and almost lost her Fletchers Corny Dog on the rocky bridge, but it turned out all right. I felt really bad, but in boots, jeans, and an untucked polo, I wasn't sure how far I could push it.

My wife tolerates my carrying, but certainly doesn't see the need for it. I've had the ol' 'do you wear a seatbelt every day' talk with her, but she still rolls her eyes when she sees me strapping up, especially when we're in the house when playing with the kid. Any words of wisdom from you veteran carriers on how to get the better half's buy-in?

[knotquiteawake]

My wife tolerates my carrying, but certainly doesn't see the need for it. I've had the ol' 'do you wear a seatbelt every day' talk with her, but she still rolls her eyes when she sees me strapping up, especially when we're in the house when playing with the kid. Any words of wisdom from you veteran carriers on how to get the better half's buy-in?

Not sure I would have made my wife do it, I might have taken the risk with the gun, just being extra careful not to bend over (squat, kneel, etc), little things seem to turn into BIG things when she was preggo last year at the fair. My wife also "tolerates" me carrying and the longer I've been carrying the more comfortable she is with it. She even appreciates it somewhat. She was worried about riding the DART to the fair this year because we have the baby with us, when I reminded her I would be armed she was reassured and more amicable to riding DART instead of fighting for parking.
Also, I should say that a few years ago before we met she was actually carjacked at a gas station in a "good part of town". A guy pointed a gun at her (she didn't really connect that it was a gun at first) and tried to force her into the car, but she pushed past him and got away and he sped off. Even after that traumatic experience my wife to this day has no interest in carrying a gun on her person or even in the car. Some people I think will just never come fully around and thats ok for us, at least I can carry.

[Ark03]

Not sure I would have made my wife do it, I might have taken the risk with the gun, just being extra careful not to bend over (squat, kneel, etc), little things seem to turn into BIG things when she was preggo last year at the fair.

Yeah, in hind site I regretted asking her to do it - that was a selfish call on my part, but it wasn't a big deal. She probably would have been fine with it otherwise, but she was annoyed I asked her to do it more because of the reason - ie she was inconvenienced because I was carrying, and she believes there was no reason I should have been carrying.

[FuziDave]

i went to the fair today. no prob. when i got to the wanding girl, i said 'chl'. she said go talk to the police officer. handed him my info. was told to stay out of the Cotton Bowl and the Old Mill Inn (51% thing). that was that. pretty easy.

[ScottDLS]

Went last Mon. 10/11 with my wife and daughters. I showed DL with CHL tucked behind and said "May I speak to a supervisor?" Security pointed me to a DPD officer at the "exit" side and did not wand me or check my small backpack. I went up to him and showed TXDL/TXCHL. He reviewed DL and CHL and said, "OK she (security) passed you...enjoy the Fair." Went back to the pay line and bought tickets for me and my wife. Daughters had free passes from school.

-ScottDLS

[jimlongley]

Arrived at the "Main" gate this morning, and as I told the wander that I was a CHL, she went ahead and wanded me, and found my harmonicas (I usually carry a few on me.) Then the stupidvisor came over and insisted on seeing "the license" and I told him he had no authority to do so, as he was neither a LEO or a judge. I already had my cards in my hand and he tried to take them, and I asked him why he was doing that, and then he just waved us over to the LEO. The LEO glanced at my wife's and my cards and started to chat with us about living in Allen and taking care of disadvantaged children. She laughed off the stupidvisor's actions as "power happy."

Had a fun time.