legal OC question

can you carry at a gun show? or since there is an admission fee would you have to have your firearm in a locked case if you had one on you ie. looking for accessories, looking to sell, looking to trade, purchasing a new one at a show?

also most gun shows are on state/local government owned property such as state or county fairgrounds or local convention centers?

thanks

I don't know for sure, but I would imagine that you would have to bring it locked in a case and un loaded. I'm sure they'll want to check it at the front and put a zip tie through the action. But I'm sure someone else around here would know better than me.

Most gun shows require that your firearm be unloaded and disabled via a zip-tie. I am not aware of any in NC that absolutely refuse to allow OC, as long as the unloaded/zip-tied requirement is followed.

If you are looking to sell a firearm it is probably better NOT to OC it but to carry it in a case/rug that you can put a sign on declaring what you have for sale and you "Let's start dickering" price. This way you are not drawing it when you and your prospective buyer are examining it.

If you are bringing in a handgun to find a holster that fits, again it is probably better "manners" to have in in a case/rug than to be repeatedly drawing it. Also, make sure the zip-tie does not interfere with getting the handgun into the holster. It can be around the inside of the trigger-guard and over (or under - depending on the configuration) the hammer as opposed to through the magazine well and down one side of the frame or through the barrel leaving the slide out of battery. Figure out how you want the zip-tie to go before you leave home. (Where I go to gun shows they accept zip-ties applied by me before I enter the venue. Check to see if you can do the same.)

Also, it is not "good manners" to tie up a dealer's table space displaying and dickering over your private-sale firearms. Find a clear spot along the aisles or perhaps at the food-vending area.

IIRC NC has some legal hoops that a buyer must jump through before making the purchase from either a dealer or a FTF private seller. Make sure you are complying with all the rules. If there is paperwork required or desired by you, be sure to bring at least 3 copies - one for you, one for the buyer, and a spare in case one of you goofs.

stay safe.

In the end, it depends on the gun show organizers. I have been to shows in Winston, Raleigh, Charlotte, Hickory, Greensboro, Lexington, Asheboro and Burlington.

At each one, I have to show my firearm unloaded and have it zip-tied at the entrance. Some will ask you to unload your magazines, other will ask you to check your ammo at the door (I have yet to figure the point of this given all the ammo for sale inside... but whatever).

I simply reholster and carry on.

Since everything is zip-tied, pulling a pistol from a holster is not a problem unless you are acting like an idiot with it.

I work at A LOT of gun shows, even on fair grounds. Cant be loaded, and has to be zipped. (unless you are a vendor, still not loaded, but no zip tie.)

Preble said:

I work at A LOT of gun shows, even on fair grounds. Cant be loaded, and has to be zipped. (unless you are a vendor, still not loaded, but no zip tie.)

Click to expand...

ALL C&E shows, doesn't matter if you are a vendor or not, the firearm will be tied. Ties are color coded. White ties are vendor firearms and (lately) orange ties are customer firearms.

Since the AD at the last Fayetteville show, if you bring a firearm to the show tied, the tie will be removed, the firearm cleared and retied.