Wanding patrons at a theater

Cal44 said:
There must have been a specific threat at that theater.

No theater could afford to wand and check every patron all day long.

Theaters operate on small margins and are barely viable already.
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After 9/11 movie theaters in my area had armed guards doing bag checks. That didn't last very long.
 
I cannot explain why the theater did this but it wasn't costly to them because this theater has excess people, anyway.

As for this:

If getting wanded was such an outrage, why enter? I would have left.
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I never said it was an outrage. I was amused by the procedure and didn't care at all. Had the LEO said I couldn't bring my weapon in then I would have gone back to the car with it. It's not that big a deal and it is, as noted before, private property and the property owner's prerogative.
 
ISCS Yoda said:
I think that American society is WAY WAY WAY past the point where readily consenting to these types of procedures is not considered "the norm". They have already taken "the mile" in the name of security. Zillions of us take off our shoes to pass through airport security, we are "wanded" there as well, or go through machines that xray us. Zillions of us get wanded or go through metal detectors in every major sports arena in the country. We get wanded or go through metal detectors at state fairs, amusement parks, and a host of other venues. Nobody complains, nobody blinks - everyone just grins and bears it.

So, if it concerns anyone that a theater would wand its patrons for security purposes you're living in the past. They check for all sorts of weapons, knives, guns, and bombs. Etcetera. IT IS DEFINITELY THE NORM.
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Well...you did ask for our comments...and I gave you mine :rolleyes:
 
gman51 said:
That was interesting to hear. I haven't been to a movie theater in or around Houston in many years so I now wonder is this happening in or around Houston.
I don't know how I could tell the guy over there where I would be sitting till I was inside the theater though.

I do think I could probably leave my gun in my car and still feel safe doing so going into that theater. But then I thought what about when I was leaving the theater and I didn't have my gun for protection on me. A real nut job knowing the theater scans for guns might think those coming out of theater could be easy pickings. LOL But that might cause him, like in your case, to be surprised by someone having a gun.

Stopping gun violence, mass shootings, could be greatly slowed without to much effort but that obviously isn't the desire wanted. I would feel much safer going into a theater that protects people like the one you described. Same thing in schools.....it is about time schools weren't safe zones for shooters. Some people just can't get past ignorance I guess.
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There are movie theaters in Houston that do not have 30.06(no concealed carry) or 30.07(no open carry) signs posted and you can carry in those, there are others that do have the signs and no firearms allowed, you just need to know the situation where you are going. I go to the ones that I can carry and do not patronize those that do not allowe CC. Really in Texas you can CC in most places that you go, just know where you can’t.
 
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Hmmm. Kinda reminds me of this.

The-Gestapo.png
 
ISCS Yoda said:
Nahhhh.....it's just theater security and, REMEMBER, it is private property and a private property owner can do whatever it wants to secure the property - anything legal is permitted.
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Not a lawyer, but I would be willing to bet a property owner could not do ANYTHING they want to secure a property where they have invited the public or sold licences for a performance. As stated earlier terms of the licence to attend a performance are printed on the ticket, so if they take your Super 8 equipment they are likely on solid legal ground. I have seen many businesses sued (and lose) over restrictions unilaterally imposed. But you will miss tonites performance.
 
It's one of those things, TSP. We're not a protected class, and (I'm not trying to make a 2A rabblerouse here) most people just view it as "leave your gun at home". It's just a thing you can either bring or not bring, not a question of how we identify ourselves.

What's not understood is that for a lot of gun-folk, it's exactly that. I can no more change my identity as a "gun person" than I can cease to be male, or a sarcastic smart-***. Shooting and shooting sports are too connected to how I think about myself. If a lot of your favorite memories growing up involve firearms, you can't simply choose to erase them. So many of Same thing comes up periodically on other forums: "I'm dating this girl, but she hates the fact that I own guns, and doesn't want me to carry or have them around". Then she doesn't like you, dude, she likes the version of you she wants to create.

So if someone were to claim the practice is discriminatory, non-gun-folk (and a pretty hefty portion of gun owners, I bet) would dismiss them as whackjobs, when discrimination is exactly what it feels like. That's why when you enact a law that criminalizes law-abiding gun owners, people react strongly--because you've hurt them, and you've made it personal.

Also, the above argument about identity has a pretty high success rate when talking with regular folks and mildly anti-gun types.
 
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Not just what Wise A says but 2 additional issues.

People wearing RC Cola shirts, or not wearing neckties are not protected classes, but years ago there was a children's concert at a ice rink in the town I lived in. I forget either Pepsi or Coke were major sponsors. The rink management denied entry to people wearing shirts that had the name, logo, whatever of thier compeditor. Made the news.

Of course there was no boilerplate on the ticket prohibiting said shirts. Rink was sued and lost. In similar situations where people have not been seated at events they bought licences (tickets) for, in my imperfect recollection if it is not illegal, and not printed on the ticket or openly displayed such as the no CCW signs mentioned management looses.

As a practical matter your carry weapon is safest on your person, not in a car that can be burguled. Also you are safer not being known to be unarmed because of someones asine policy.
 
I have mixed feelings about that. I have carried into concerts and other live performances locally. No signs means I'm good to go.

Local movie theaters all have the 30.07 sign, and some have the 30.06 as well.

Your experience reminds me a bit of the Texas State Capitol building. There is a separate entrance for those who are licensed to carry. We bypass the metal detector, and a state trooper swipes your license to make sure it's valid, then he says go ahead, sir.
 
THEY AINT NEW.

As I recall, the first wands I saw being used were at a bar/club with a "rough" clientele, app late 90's/ early 2000's??? Many other places to spend my money. ;)
 
I applaud your calm logic, Yoda.

The others' comments haven't swayed me in either direction. Talk's cheap, and I believe some missed the "live performance" bit.

If I were in your situation I would have done the same as you. Your observation that the other patrons didn't know you were singled out or why is typical of today's society. Everyone's self-importance seems to reign supreme.
 
IAhunter said:
I hope my local theatre doesn't start wanding, they might find my duty gun and badge. ; )
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:D MY Wife and I have attended a number of movies in pre-view status. Some wanded people and forbid bringing cell phones into the theater to prevent bootleg copies being made. I spoke with their security and when they wanded me it didn't go off. Had it gone off they indeed would have found my gun and badge. I did go to my car and locked our phones up, I'm not giving my phone (they put them in paper bags) or gun to anyone. It seems that their wands were strictly for RF (electronics), not metal.

squidsix said:
I would do an about face and not return to that establishment. I have done many times. Eventually they will suffer the economic losses from folks walking off when they realize that practices like this suck, and only hurt the law abiding.
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Not really, he said it was a live show where he bought tickets in advance. So they already had his money. If he left willingly, he forfeits that money.
 
Cal44 said:
There must have been a specific threat at that theater.

No theater could afford to wand and check every patron all day long.

Theaters operate on small margins and are barely viable already.
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$4 for a small Coke and $4 for a small popcorn. I do wonder how they can get by.
 
ISCS Yoda said:
Okay, whatever. I do it and when I get to "man standing over there" he has a kind of a notebook open and he asks me to put my license number in column 1, my name in column 2, where I will be sitting, etc., and that was that. "Have a good time, enjoy the show, yadda blah".

I kind of liked that system. Where they allow guns but want to know who has them and where they are - works for me!

Comments?
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Collecting of names of people who have CCW permits. What is going to happen to that list? Who will be able to gain access to that information? I think in many states this is protected information, not public and not for purposes of identification.
 
stansdds said:
Collecting of names of people who have CCW permits. What is going to happen to that list?
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Dick's/Field & Stream does the same thing around here. Our fine state was supposed to build a NICS-like system for ammo purchases, which they never did. So D/F&S took it upon themselves to log, for some ungodly reason, pistol permit numbers with handgun ammo sales.

They don't log anything for long-gun ammo sales, even when it's a pistol-caliber cartridge, because the clerks are poorly-trained and, I think, more interested in not creating problems for themselves than obeying their corporate masters.
 
Wise_A said:
Dick's/Field & Stream does the same thing around here. Our fine state was supposed to build a NICS-like system for ammo purchases, which they never did. So D/F&S took it upon themselves to log, for some ungodly reason, pistol permit numbers with handgun ammo sales.

They don't log anything for long-gun ammo sales, even when it's a pistol-caliber cartridge, because the clerks are poorly-trained and, I think, more interested in not creating problems for themselves than obeying their corporate masters.
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There's your problem.
 
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