Ribfest Pat-Down (Pittsburgh)

[officer64]

What I always found interesting is the degree of security at the gates at NASCAR races. The wife and I go to Charlotte and Michigan each year for them. They check coolers and bags for prohibited items like glass bottles which one can understand why, but no personal searches and no metal detectors. From what I understand, no track anywhere go to any more measures. Now, we're talking in the neighborhood of 100,000 people for each Sprint Cup race, less for the other two series, but still a LOT of people. There is signage at all the tracks prohibiting firearms.

Even at the times where we had notifications from Homeland Security about creditable threats at sporting venues in the past, they never tightened entry gate security measures series wide.

Now, if the powers-to-be here never feel that searches are necessary with the number of attendees that go to races each year and as relatively high profile events that they are, why do so many smaller venues feel that they have to go the whole nine yards? And if they do, how do they justify using rent-a-cops that couldn't handle a major problem if their lives depended on it, and probably would!

God, I've so had it with "feel good" policies that just plain don't make sense.

[tes151]

What I always found interesting is the degree of security at the gates at NASCAR races. The wife and I go to Charlotte and Michigan each year for them. They check coolers and bags for prohibited items like glass bottles which one can understand why, but no personal searches and no metal detectors. From what I understand, no track anywhere go to any more measures. Now, we're talking in the neighborhood of 100,000 people for each Sprint Cup race, less for the other two series, but still a LOT of people. There is signage at all the tracks prohibiting firearms.

Even at the times where we had notifications from Homeland Security about creditable threats at sporting venues in the past, they never tightened entry gate security measures series wide.

Now, if the powers-to-be here never feel that searches are necessary with the number of attendees that go to races each year and as relatively high profile events that they are, why do so many smaller venues feel that they have to go the whole nine yards? And if they do, how do they justify using rent-a-cops that couldn't handle a major problem if their lives depended on it, and probably would!

God, I've so had it with "feel good" policies that just plain don't make sense.

It's really no different than anything else in this country. Take politics for example. Appearances are everything in this society. If it " appears " that something worth a crap is being done, then it must be good. Kind of like the do nothing anti gun laws the libs keep pushing.

[HiredGoon]

We went to the Ribfest today at Heinz field.(Yes, where the Steelers play)

At all of the entry points there are "security" staff who check bags and such.

In past years, I've carried my Kel-Tec P32 IWB since it's the only thing light enough to carry when wearing my lightweight, hiking-style shorts with an elastic "belt".(Hey, it's RIBfest - I need room for expansion!)

On previous visits, they only checked bags, and never once gave me a second look as they looked in my wife's purse for weapons or perhaps a possible smuggled-in bottle of water.(You must buy their $5 lemonades - no food or beverages from the outside permitted)
This year was a bit different, in that there was a male, and female "security person" at each entrance, and they asked the men to line up for the male to "check" them, and the women were"searched" by the female staffer.

"This should be interesting", I thought to myself, as I overheard the wife of a man ahead of us telling her friends, "He has to go put it in the car."

"OK sir, place your hands up like this for me", says the security guy as I step up to him. He proceeds to place his hands(and I believe he had them turned palms-out, using the back of the hand to do the "pat down")under my armpits, then just above my waist, then just below my waist, with the last two "pats" landing above, and below my handgun. "OK, next."

I took a few steps, met up with my wife and continued on into the event as my wife said quietly, "Are you carrying?"

"Yep", I said with a chuckle, and off we went to have some tasty ribs and pulled pork BBQ... and a $5 lemonade.

I'm sure people will feel much safer now that they have "beefed up" the security measures.

That must be some damn good eatin' & drinkin' ($5 lemonade) to subject yourself and wife to being man-handled and woman-handled like that

[ungawa]

I don't think Al Qaeda wants 50 million armed rednecks landing fishing boats and canoes in southern Pakistan. It turned out bad enough for them last time.

[JonEMTP]

I've been to a few shows at the Electric Factory and Festival Pier in Philly.

I used to return to my car and divest myself of my full-size handgun. Now... I relocate my Ruger LCP to a somewhat uncomfortable location "in front". Once I clear security, I hit the head and readjust