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Virginia Motorsports Park - Dinwiddie/Petersburg

wylde007

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Jan 23, 2009
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Va Beach, Occupied VA
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The missus, son and I went to MOPAR Madness this weekend and what did we see posted on the entry gates?

No Firearms or Weapons

I have written a letter to the general manager thus:

Dear Mr. Pearce:

My family and I had a good time this past weekend at the MOPAR Show & Shine event. I was, however, quite disappointed to see signs on the entry gates which say "No Firearms or Weapons".

There are no fewer than three things inherently wrong with your signs. One is that no sign will stop someone with ill intentions from entering your premises/property and causing harm if that is their objective. In fact, the only people you are disarming are those who CHOOSE to obey your rule and voluntarily disarm themselves before attending an event at your venue.

Secondly, security was lax, if not completely absent. I did not notice any security guards or checkpoints throughout your venue that would ensure the safety of myself and my family. Barring a miracle from above, should a gun- or knife-wielding madman attack anyone on your property you appear to have no provisions in place to stop such an assault and you have effectively removed everyone else's right to self defense by policy.

Thirdly, your policy violates the very basic premise of self-defense. In more and more places throughout the Commonwealth, lawfully carried firearms are becoming commonplace. It would do you and your organization much good to accede to the laws of the State and leave the decision to carry firearms and weapons up to your patrons.

I do hope that you will consider reviewing and/or amending your policy on this issue. As much as I enjoyed our visit to Virginia Motorsports Park I cannot see myself or my family visiting again while it is your policy to forcible disarm me and leave me and my family defenseless against someone who may have decided that your signs did not present a substantial obstacle to their harmful intentions.

Kindest regards
Comments? Suggestions?
 

Grapeshot

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Valhalla
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Exceptionally well written and thought out letter, particularly like the tone of it.

Let us know how they respond.

Yata hey
 

wylde007

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Va Beach, Occupied VA
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I have it in my drafts folder. I wasn't sure how it would come off so I wanted you guys to have at it for a spell.

I'll send it this afternoon once a few more have an opportunity to respond.
 

TFred

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Most historic town in, Virginia, USA
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Pretty good letter. I would suggest a couple tweaks, highlighted below. The board software does not allow strike through, so I'll italicize what I would delete, and bold what I would add. Just some suggestions.

TFred


wylde007 wrote:
Dear Mr. Pearce:

My family and I had a good time this past weekend at the MOPAR Show & Shine event. I was, however, quite disappointed to see signs on the entry gates which say "No Firearms or Weapons".

There are no fewer than three things inherently wrong with your signs. One is that no sign will stop someone with ill intentions from entering your premises/property and causing harm if that is their objective. In fact, the only people you are disarming are those who CHOOSE to obey your rule and voluntarily disarm themselves before attending an event at your venue.

Secondly, security was lax, if not completely absent. I did not notice any security guards or checkpoints throughout your venue that would ensure the safety of myself and my family. Barring a miracle from above, should a gun- or knife-wielding madman attack anyone on your property you appear to have no provisions in place to stop such an assault and you have effectively removed everyone else's right to self defense by policy.

Thirdly, your policy violates the very basic premise of self-defense. In more and more places throughout the Commonwealth, lawfully carried firearms are becoming commonplace. [It would do you and your organization much good to accede to the laws of the State and leave the decision to carry firearms and weapons up to your patrons.] The sensible way to treat this issue is to follow the lead of most major companies, and simply follow state law. Although your intentions are noble, I'm sure you follow current events: mass shootings only occur in "gun free zones." Why would you intentionally provide the perfect environment for such a criminal to exploit?

I do hope that you will consider reviewing and/or amending your policy on this issue. [As much as I enjoyed our visit to Virginia Motorsports Park I cannot see myself or my family visiting again while it is your policy to forcible disarm me and leave me and my family defenseless against someone who may have decided that your signs did not present a substantial obstacle to their harmful intentions.] Although we enjoyed our visit to Virginia Motorsports Park, we will not be returning until you change your policy which puts me and my family in danger. In addition, I will be sharing the status of your business with hundreds of like-minded friends, by placing VMP on a list of "gun unfriendly" businesses. At such a time when you decide to change your policy, I will be happy to report that news as well, and to then return for future visits.

Kindest regards
Comments? Suggestions?
 

architect

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2008
Messages
392
Location
Falls Church, Virginia, USA
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Great letter overall. Thanks for letting the forum know about this matter.

A couple of suggestions, "forcible disarm" in the final paragraph should be "forcibly disarm," but maybe a better read would be "require that I disarm," after all they are not holding a gun to your head! :)

In the penultimate paragraph, "becoming commonplace" might better simply be "common."

And maybe add something to give them an out and not challenge their pride, to the effect of: "If your intention is simply to discourage the presence of illegal weaponry, I apologize for misinterpreting it, but would request that you re-word your sign to clarify this policy."
 

wylde007

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Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
3,035
Location
Va Beach, Occupied VA
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Here is the final draft as submitted to the VMP:

Dear Mr. Pearce:

My family and I had a pleasant time this past weekend at the MOPAR Show & Shine event. I was, however, quite disappointed to see signs on the entry gates which say "No Firearms or Weapons".

There are no fewer than three things inherently wrong with your signs. One is that no sign will stop someone with ill intentions from entering your premises/property and causing harm if that is their objective. In fact, the only people you are disarming are those who CHOOSE to obey your rule and voluntarily disarm themselves before attending an event at your venue.

Secondly, security was lax, if not completely absent. I did not notice any security guards or checkpoints throughout your venue that would ensure the safety of myself and my family. Barring a miracle from above, should a gun- or knife-wielding madman attack anyone on your property you appear to have no provisions in place to stop such an assault and you have effectively removed everyone else's right to self defense by policy.

Thirdly, your policy violates the very basic premise of self-defense. In more and more places throughout the Commonwealth, lawfully carried firearms are becoming commonplace. The most reasonable way to address this issue is to follow the example of many major companies and defer to state law. Although your intentions are likely noble, you no-doubt follow current events: mass shootings only occur in "gun free zones." Why would you intentionally provide an opportune environment for criminals to exploit?

I do hope that you will consider reviewing and/or amending your policy on this issue. As much as we enjoyed our visit to Virginia Motorsports Park we will not be returning while your policy of disarmament remains in effect. I will not accede to any policy which renders me and my family defenseless against someone who may have decided that your signs did not present a substantial obstacle to their harmful intentions.

In addition, I will be sharing the disposition of your business with hundreds of like-minded friends and fellow 2nd Amendment supporters by placing VMP on a list of "gun unfriendly" businesses. At such time as you decide to revise/amend your policy, I will be happy to report that news as well, and to then return for future visits.

Kindest regards,
I do sincerely appreciate those of you who read, commented and offered suggestions on this submission. They were helpful and insightful.
 

TFred

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Oct 13, 2008
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Location
Most historic town in, Virginia, USA
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It will be interesting to see if you get a response. We've seen instances of good, bad and indifferent reactions to these sorts of letters, maybe we'll get a good one here!

TFred
 

Ric in Richmond

Regular Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
192
Location
Richmond, Virginia, USA
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I was going to one of their larger events and was in line to enter the property.

Based on the crowd I saw going into the place and the overwhelming police presence I turned around and left.

Had I been able to keep my gun I STILL wouldn't have stayed.

I don't think I have seen rougher bunch of characters than that night.
 
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