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Our granddaughter was scheduled to dance at the Lewisville Western Days Festival. My wife and I headed out to watch her, arriving about 1/2 hour before the performance. It was a good thing we left extra time.

We arrived at the entrance gates to learn that the City of Lewisville had hired an independent firm to handle security. They were wanding everyone and asking about pocket knives. By the time I saw all of this, we were at the checkpoint and everyone was looking at us. I visually surveyed the surrounding fence area for a sign but there was neither a 30.06 (I was thinking about Grapevine) nor a 51% sign For a second, I thought about doing the "I forgot something in my car" routine. I quickly decided to forge ahead and simply said "I don't want to be wanded." I waited through the dialogue ("Everyone has to get wanded - it is company policy" and "do you have a medical reason?") I repeated that I didn't want to be wanded and then just stood there. He said "I'll have to get a supervisor" and my response was "that's fine."

Meanwhile, my wife had submitted to the wanding (she doesn't have a CHL) and the hand bag check. She went on to the dance venue and told our granddaughter "Grampy is going to get arrested."

I was actually relieved to see two Lewisville LEOs making their way toward us. One of them asked me "Is everything alright?" and I responded again with "I don't want to get wanded." Moving carefully, I used my left hand to get out my wallet and showed him my CHL. He asked if I had "it" on me and I told him that I did. He asked where and I said "on my right hip". He asked if I had shared that information with the event security person and I told him that I only reveal my CHL to LEOs.

To be honest, at this point, I'm not sure how this is going to go yet. I'm prepared to take it as far as I need to.

He said that the event staff had been trained on CHLs and the fact that they couldn't prevent them from carrying. He said that I should go ahead and submit to the wanding which I did. Of course, the wand hit on both my EDC and my spare mag on the other hip. But the event guy waved me through and the officer and I walked ahead, past the fence. He wanted to know what kind of gun it was (I had my Sig P250) and then he and I talked about guns. He had a P229 but now carries a Glock. He said that he thought that I might have a pocket gun and that he carried one of those. I told him that I use my LCP as a BUG. He talked about going to the State Fair and being outed as an LEO there when he went through in street clothes. He was very cordial and we had a great exchange. I thanked him and went on my way.

I believe that trying to walk in and initially submitting to the wanding might have gone badly. My reasoning was that it could have gone to a MWAG call. I was very calm and deliberately moved slowly until we were inside. Candidly, my nerves were running a little higher that I would have expected. I was thinking about Costco and some of the other situations that didn't turn out well. Perhaps the next time, I will be a little more relaxed.

More of the family was at the dance venue and we all laughed at how I always manage to spice things up. I will honestly say that if I hadn't spent the time that I have reading on this forum, I would likely have simply taken the gun back to the car. Thanks to everyone here for helping me to do the right thing and stand up for my rights.

Charlie

Edit: typo

I personally believe that everyone standing their ground when you're within your rights maintains our rights.

Great job sir. You acted professionally and appropriately. And by the way...my wife would have done and said the same thing.

Shall not be infringed means exactly that!

chasfm11,

Good for you - that took guts!

Abraham wrote:chasfm11,

Good for you - that took guts!

Naw. Guts it what it takes to do the right things when you are getting shot at. I've just come to a point in my life where I'm not going to be pushed around. I was confident that I understood the rules and that I could have an intelligent conversation about them with anyone that I needed to. Those who know me personally understand that I don't go looking for problems but I'm not one to shirk from them if they appear.

For those who don't know Lewisville, there is a good reason that I don't go there unarmed....ever. The City seems to be trying to deal with some of the issues and I'd have to count the increased security at today's event as part of that effort. At the same time, this is not Chicago and I'm happy to handle my own security, not trust it to others. Like a lot of other public gatherings, the trek from parking the car to the entrance is probably the greatest exposure.

"Grampy is going to get arrested."

Priceless!!

rbwhatever1 wrote:"Grampy is going to get arrested."

Priceless!!

I also got a chuckle out of that one.

Chasfm11, you did great and I understand the nerves thing. That's how I felt a few years ago at the State Fair. However, being polite, but firm and right won out in both our cases. I guess they didn't want to put out a sign for CHLs like the fair does so you would have known they were prepared.

C-dub wrote:

rbwhatever1 wrote:"Grampy is going to get arrested."

Priceless!!

I also got a chuckle out of that one.

Chasfm11, you did great and I understand the nerves thing. That's how I felt a few years ago at the State Fair. However, being polite, but firm and right won out in both our cases. I guess they didn't want to put out a sign for CHLs like the fair does so you would have known they were prepared.

Thanks. One of the differences here was that they still wanted to go ahead and wand me. It is my understanding that once you declare a CHL at the State Fair, they no longer want to do that. I scratch my head when someone wants to conduct a security test that everyone understands going in is going to fail. I submitted because it was easier than arguing. I understand that it opens the door to the next set of people in line who might have observed me not getting wanded and wanting to ask questions about that. But waving the wand over me, having it sound a metal alarm and then ignoring that alarm also sends a message to others.

imo to avoid issues with others in line eveyone should get wanded. I would however turned the wand off and made it look good :)

Great example for the rest of us. I had not vetted out this scenario in my mind. I fear I would have opted to return to my car out of not wanting to make things worse. Your example shows a clear and straightforward manner to deal with the situation.

Thank you.

"For those who don't know Lewisville, there is a good reason that I don't go there unarmed....ever. The City seems to be trying to deal with some of the issues and I'd have to count the increased security at today's event as part of that effort"

I have lived in Lewisville for over 35 years and didn't know the city had any issues that any other cities don't have.Could you please tell me what these issues are?
THANX

C-dub wrote:

rbwhatever1 wrote:"Grampy is going to get arrested."

Priceless!!

I also got a chuckle out of that one.


I was all concerned while reading, then had to laugh out loud on that one!

Great job keeping your cool. Thank you for sharing your story, it's a learning event for sure. I would have never expected that either. Good for you for standing your ground.

As a city event or a state event assuming it was not a school event could they have kept you from bringing in a concealed handgun? Not sure about the legality of them scanning anyone.

J Wilson wrote:"For those who don't know Lewisville, there is a good reason that I don't go there unarmed....ever. The City seems to be trying to deal with some of the issues and I'd have to count the increased security at today's event as part of that effort"

I have lived in Lewisville for over 35 years and didn't know the city had any issues that any other cities don't have.Could you please tell me what these issues are?
THANX

I get the local paper which included the local crime blotter for Lewisville and several of the surrounding towns. Sorry that I don't have an electronic link to it. There is enough activity that I don't got to Lewisville, Corinth, Flower Mound, Highland Village without carrying.

I'm glad to hear they trained the security. I'll assume many chl's went in w/o incident. Glad to see this.

rotor wrote:As a city event or a state event assuming it was not a school event could they have kept you from bringing in a concealed handgun? Not sure about the legality of them scanning anyone.

Grapevine does it (prevents CC at town sponsored events). I'm aware that the city governments often exchange information and I was afraid that Lewisville might have taken a page out of the same book. I was both surprised and pleased to hear the Lewisville officer say that they couldn't prevent CC.

As to scanning all entrants, I'm not sure what legal basis there is. It was definitely a private firm handling security and I figure that they have some rationale for their actions or someone could easily put a dent in their corporate budget. I suspect that we will see more, not less, of this sort of activity.