Gun Show Ties...I Think The Idea Is Ridiculous

[semperfi71]

I repeat...ridiculous.

A gun show is for "showing" guns and selling guns. How is one going to accomplish selling guns if they are locked by the plastic ties?

I personally think there's enough "security" at the gunshows I attend that protects from whatever the ties protects from.

Also, most table operators at the gun show will cut the tie if you want to properly inspect a gun. So why have them anyhow?

Then there was the one "seller" at my local shows who has lots of handguns, sometimes very nice ones at decent prices. BUT, he won't cut a tie to allow proper inspection. I do know he doesn't sell many guns either. I wanted to ask him at the last show, "Why bother to show up, you don't let people inspect your handguns."

Okay, rant over. I'm going to bed. Nite all.

 

[HotRoderX]

Its a simple case of a few ruined it for all. I remember a few months back a news article from a gun show. Where people where injured by a "unloaded gun". The guy picked a rifle up off a gun show table and proceed to check it but did not check the chamber. He placed finger on the trigger and pulled and you get the rest. Its people like this that cause unnecessary hardships on all.

Also I had a buddy I use to go with. I always thought it was weird thought first thing he did at ever show was head to the bathroom. One day I asked him about it. He told me in a nut shell he knew security would not let him thought the door with a loaded gun. His answer to this was to unload his Glock go thought security cut the zip tie load it and holster it in his CC rig. Once more its the few screwing it up for all of us. I no longer go to Gun shows with him not worth getting in trouble just so he can walk around armed.

 

[JcMack]

Ties are a great idea. Safety first. And nothing like having some goof walk up to your table, pick up a gun, dry fire it 10 times, open the cyl, and "flip" it closed. That will convince you ties are good.

 

[oldman45]

For years around here, any gun entering the exhibit floor will have a plastic tie around it in some form. Keeps the action open, keeps it from being discharged and does not scratch the gun. I have bought a few guns from the gun shows and all had the plastic ties.

Never a problem and not one single discharge.

 

[number0009]

It's been a while since attending my last show here in Georgia. I do remember those entering having the ties placed on their firearms. Some but not many of the guns on display had ties. Agree that if it's a regulation that the ties be in place at all times it would make things rather difficult for both buyer and sellers.
My experience has been if not required some sellers will install the ties to keep the tire kickers from adding additional wear. They usually cut them off if a customer shows interest and appears knowledgeable.

 

[novalty]

They might as well have them all with zip ties. The last few guns shows I've been to the prices were so high that it wasn't worth my time inspecting the guns.

 

[27145]

Ties are a great idea. Safety first. And nothing like having some goof walk up to your table, pick up a gun, dry fire it 10 times, open the cyl, and "flip" it closed. That will convince you ties are good.

Winning answer.

 

[badam0112]

I am sure that facilities that rent the guns shows space require the shows to be covered by insurance. Adding the zip ties and having security present would help reduce the cost for the insurance. The cost of this insurance is included in the entry fee they charge to get in. The zip ties do make me feel safer as I've had more than one gun pointed at me in the past while walking the isles.

 

[ErnieDeBord]

If I ran a shop EVERY firearm would have tie wrap! For saftey and to protect the firearm from getting wore-out from mishandling. If the customer was truly serious about inspecting the firearm there would be NO problem for me to remove the tie. Would You want to buy something that has been handled to death?

 

[David LaPell]

I remember working with a friend at his table for several gunshows and believe me the ties are a good idea. There had been an incident where a dealer cut off a tie just to show some hoo haw the action on a gun, and the tire kicker of a buyer whips out a live round and puts it in the action to see how it chambered. The dealer took the gun back as quick as possible and told the guy to pack his freight.
I have seen guys even try to take off some of the zip ties without asking, only to get yelled at and rightly so. It takes all kinds and in this world where everything up to a hangnail has a lawyer advertising a 1-800 number for it, no one wants to get sued.

 

[CajunBass]

Easy solution. Hold your own gunshow and don't require or even allow the plastic ties.

Seems simple to me.

But at their show...they get to make the rules.

 

[brucev]

Gunshows face very real liability concerns. Ties are a simple way of addressing some of those concerns. It is an inconvenience. But the same is true of seatbelts. I can live with seatbelts. I can live with ties. JMHO.

 

[redlevel]

I tie my own guns, except for my carry gun, before going. I let them inspect the Model 60, and tie it. I keep a clipper in my pocket, along with some extra ties. When I get ready to leave, I usually go to a restroom, clip the tie on the Model 60 and reload it from a speed loader. I only do this when I'm literally headed out the door. At at least one show I go to, I sometimes have to walk nearly a quarter mile to get to the building. If I were a thug, I would figure this would be a good place to get a weapon, considering that all of them were rendered inoperable with the ties.

 

[doublesharp]

There are ties and then there are TIES. The NGD promoter supplies thin ladder style zip ties that do the job but don't take a chainsaw to remove. Many small shows use the heavy duty plastic ties that are so tough that you need special clippers to remove. Bubba pulls out a pocketknife and, oops, you guessed it, an idiot mark by the thumb release.

I use ties but put them on a bit loose. Easy to remove but it keeps them from being dry fired and abused by looky lous.

 

[ohiobuckeye]

Over the years, I have personally observed guns discharged at three different gun shows...two by the same promoter..Bill Goodman, who has a strict policy of inspecting chambers and magazines, and tying all guns at the door, and requiring all guns on display to be tied, and the few morons among us still manage to defeat his efforts. I shudder to think how many there would be without the ties and inspections. My buddy racked a 12 ga.Remington 870 at one show, and jacked a live round out of the chamber and onto the floor....nice surprise!....Albert Einstein once said "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former".....His quote is often restated as "Intelligence has its limits but stupidity knows no bounds", and there are those who attend gun shows that clearly demonstrate those quotes. Also, I suspect the tie requirement is linked to the promoters insurance coverage. The ties are an inconvenience that I hope will continue.

 

[HAWKEYE10]

I put ties on my guns even if the gun show promoters don't require it. I don't want idiots abusing my guns. Don

 

[ohiobuckeye]

I tie my own guns, except for my carry gun, before going. I let them inspect the Model 60, and tie it. I keep a clipper in my pocket, along with some extra ties. When I get ready to leave, I usually go to a restroom, clip the tie on the Model 60 and reload it from a speed loader. I only do this when I'm literally headed out the door. At at least one show I go to, I sometimes have to walk nearly a quarter mile to get to the building. If I were a thug, I would figure this would be a good place to get a weapon, considering that all of them were rendered inoperable with the ties.

I would probably do the same if the show was being held in a really tough area of a city. Most of the shows I attend, it's hard to imagine anyone stupid enough to attempt a robbery at a gun show, but I'm sure there are a few thieves that stupid. I do recall a story floating around a few years ago about a thief who snatched a gun off a show table and ended up caught in one of the restrooms. As the story goes, the fellows who caught him and held him for the cops, explained that he fell and hit his head several times while they were extracting him from the restroom...

 

[handejector]

 

[handejector]

At the annual meeting for the SWCA, we have been required to tie guns for the last two years. Now, this is a CLOSED show, open ONLY to SWCA members and that pre-register, and guests that are pre-registered by a member.
If an SWCA member drops by that is not pre-registered, he does not get in unless the Board allows it.
So, we found it curious that ties were being required.
It turns out that the insurance company that writes the liability insurance requires it.
No ties, NO insurance.

 

[novalty]

That purple zip-tie cutter really brings out the grips