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PO Box 52
O'Fallon, MO
63366
SECOND
AMENDMENT
COALITION
OF MISSOURI
CARRYING CONCEALED AT GUN SHOWS
April 26, 2005
Dear SACMO Board and Supporters,
Perhaps you have heard by now that there was an incident at the Stratford Inn gun show in Fenton, MO recently. Apparently, a gentleman approached the "ticket" counter, offered his money and was ask if he had a concealed weapon. He answered "yes." The ticket salesman then stated that, "You will have to check it with the police officer." At that point the gentleman ask for and received his money back and left with no further comment. On the surface, it would appear that the ugly face of an anti gun bigot was making an appearance, but, as we all know, appearances can be misleading. This seems to be the case in this event and the real culprit is, "Liability Insurance."
By the time he arrived home, this gentleman was pretty upset. E-mails were exchanged, questions, doubts and recriminations started flying and SACMO was contacted. Well, all of us are pretty sensitive about this subject and most of us don't go to places that have "CCW Prohibited" signs displayed. Naturally, SACMO had to make an inquiry.
I wrote an e-mail to Mr. Pete Cutelli, the gun show promoter, relating what I had heard about the incident and asked him if he would please elaborate on the policy which seemed to be in place. Pete called me back in a very timely manner. He was most understanding and glad to have the opportunity to explain what had happened as he had heard about the incident as well.
Number one. According to Pete, to conduct his gun show, he first has to have liability insurance in place and there is only ONE INSURANCE CARRIER that will do it and that is the NRA Endorsed insurance plan. To put it bluntly, No insurance, no show."
Number two. According to the terms of the insurance plan, there can be no loaded guns in the show. It is the responsibility of the show promoter to exercise "due diligence" to prevent loaded guns making their way into the show.
Number three. In an effort to prevent loaded guns in the show, Pete had to place some sort of sign at the entrance stating something to the effect, "No loaded guns."
Number four. To provide security at the show, an off duty police officer was selected to help make sure that all the guns entering the show were unloaded and a plastic wire tie inserted in the action. The office so selected happens to be VERY pro gun.
Number five. The ticket salesman is supposed to make some sort of inquiry about whether or not a person is carrying a loaded gun, but only for the aforementioned insurance reasons.
Unfortunately, at this step, the ticket salesman might have said his little inquiry a bit too bluntly for the comfort of sensitive, pro CCW individuals. Instead of saying something like, "I'm sorry but if you are carrying a loaded concealed weapon, you will have to unload it before entering the show area and the officer over there will assist you and put a plastic tie in the gun." Instead, he said something like, "Are you carrying a concealed gun?" "Yes." "Then you will have to check it with the police officer over there."
The way it came out made it sound like a guy might have to leave his gun on a shelf or hanging from a peg like at the ole Long Branch Saloon in Dodge City and that the proprietor didn't want him to have a gun. Well, it wasn't meant anything like that according to the show promoter, Pete. He was just trying to comply with the insurance company rules.
Pete said that he is going to revise the sign to make sure that it says something like, "I'm Sorry, but to comply with the insurance regulations, everyone will have to unload their guns before entering." He also said that the guy at the ticket counter will make it a little more clear that concealed guns are only going to be unloaded and wrapped with a plastic tie before going into the show, not taken away or written up.
As the President of SACMO, please let me assure you that I am convinced from my conversations with Pete Cutelli, that the incident was merely an attempt to comply with the insurance regulations. I see no indication of any kind of anti gun or anti CCW activities but only an honest attempt to run a good, safe gun show in compliance with the many laws and insurance regulations. I can also add that Pete feels badly that there was this misunderstanding and is making a good faith attempt to sooth hurt feelings. Speaking as the President of SACMO, I will continue to attend this show and can see no reason for anyone to avoid it.
Respectfully submitted,
Dale
A. Schmid, President,
The
Second Amendment Coalition of Missouri, Inc.
517
Connie Lane
Manchester,
Mo. 63021
Here is a link to the gun show promoter's web page. It can also be found on our links page.
previous
letters
12/4/04 5/21/04 3/18/04 3/15/04 2/2/04
12/22/03 09/29/03 09/12/03 08/14/03 08/06/03
06/11/03 05/05/03 05/02/03 4/28/03 4/20/03
4/11/03 4/9/03 4/4/03 3/17/03 3/5/03 2/21/03
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