A Convention's weapon prop policy...

Hakaider

Hunter
Hello everyone:

The Anime Expo convention in Los Angeles, California (The largest anime convention in North America) recently posted their revised weapon policy for props at their convention.

Here's an excerpt from their weapon policy:

"Water guns, squirt guns, and non-functional toy guns (toy guns that do not launch any form of projectile) will only be approved if they are one of the following colors: white, bright red, bright orange, bright yellow, bright green, bright blue, bright pink, or bright purple; either singly or as the predominant color in combination with other colors in any pattern; or are transparent or translucent. "

In the past, many 501st members have also attended this convention. But with the revised weapon policy, Imperial Stormtroopers and Mandalorians would not be allowed to carry their blasters around, unless it's painted with bright colors at this convention

And yes, Jango Fett's blaster will also be disqualified because it's silver.

(Somehow it doesn't look right to me to have Boba Fett carrying a bright neon yellow colored blaster.)


At their forums, a costumer asked if a Imperial Snowtrooper blaster falls within the guidelines of their weapon policy.

The Anime Expo staffer answered with:

"The black Snowtrooper rifle, though it is meant to be a "futuristic weapon", it's not obviously so. Even less so if the gun were to be viewed from a distance. The white plastic toy alternative on the other hand will be allowed."

http://forums.anime-expo.org/index.php?showtopic=7588&st=40&start=40


In the past, Anime Expo has been very lenient with their weapon policy but strangely enough, they have gotten more & more restrictive each year.


This policy actually isn't unique. There are other anime cons that are even more restrictive with their weapon prop policy.


So far, Dragon Con and San Diego Comic Con has been quite lenient with their weapon prop policy as compared to conventions like Anime Expo. The Star Wars Celebration conventions have also been lenient with their weapon prop policy. (The Los Angeles Police Department didn't have a problem with the 501st carrying their blasters.)

What do you all think? Are conventions in the future going to get more & more restrictive with their weapon prop policy? Is this a growing trend among conventions or will it remain with just a few conventions?

I hope the day never comes when Mandalorians/Imperials/Rebels/bounty hunters are not allowed to carry any type of props or costume at a convention.
 
Anime Central, in Rosemont, IL, simply requires you to get a "tag" from Con Security before you can patrol with a weapon of any sort. Usually, it's just an orange neon zip-tie put around the trigger guard, or something along those lines, if I recall. It HAS been a few years since I've attended...
 
I belong to Garrison Excelsior, we are the 501st for Upstate NY. I"m currently a TK and will eventually be a Boba Fett. I recently trooped an event at the Empire State Plaza. Since it's a government facility, they said no prop weapons that may be confused with a real weapon, which allowed lightsabers. Security for the event was pretty tight for the "staff". State Troopers had to log us in and were allowed to check vehicles if they so chose. I understand all of that since it's a government building.

We just did a mall evnt, once again, no weapons. During the event a little boy came up to me with one of the new white clonetrooper rifles. How the hell did he get away with getting it into the mall ? Besides that, how can a store be allowed to carry and sell toy weapons if the mall has this policy. it should be all or nothing.

I continue to offer this solution to my garrison:

Put all prop weapons in a tote, let the vent organizers or security inspect them, and then let THEM distribute them back to the costumed people. If need be, put an orange cap on the end of the barrel, or the zip tie method.

It makes me feel naked, so to speak, to not have my blaster. It is part of the character. It makes me almost want to say, "No, I'll skip this event". I brought my blaster to a mall event in December, not knowing they weren't allowed. Security walked by time after time, never saying a word. Later, the security folks came by and took pics with us.

I understand the need for safety and security. It's a sign of the times. But has it gotten so bad that people have to fear that costumed characters could be terrorists in disguise? Isn't there some way to work out a solution with the security folks? In my opinion, the "no prop weapon" policy adopted by malls, etc. is fine for the general public, but as an event participant, I think there could be an exception made because we are there for a specific purpose, most often a fundraiser.

It's extremely frustrating.



Donald Duck walks around Disney World, he does not wear any pants. What's up with that ?
 
I have only been trooping since last September with my local garrison. I have been at events in costume and have had the cops show up twice with reports of "masked people with guns" who look like they are up to no good. They usually laugh and pose for a picture with us.

We have also had problems at mall events where they won't allow us to wear helmets or carry a blaster. :confused Pretty cool huh?
 
I walked in the French Quater here on a couple of occasions sporting my blasters and have not had a problem. Cops typically stop to take pics. However we have done troops where blasters were not allowed.

You know the country/world has gone to **** when costumer's for a charity event can't carry "space guns". Unfortuntely I don't see a way around it, when you have nut jobs running into malls or nursing homes shooting random people.
 
This is exactly why I don't go to this convention. Color the weapons in a bright color? c'mon man, be serious. Why not have some guy in a booth for $10 an hour checking weapons at the bloody door to see if they are real or not. I'm not about to paint my $400 Hyperfirm bright orange!
 
this is a stupid idea. What's to stop someone from painting a real gun those bright colors? Put it in a holster and it looks just like a fake one.
 
See, what makes no sense to me is, at cons I go to, you have to get your "weapon" prop inspected and tagged first before going into the con... this makes sense... a bright purple blaster? That doesn't justify anything, it still looks like the same exact weapon, just a different color... Painting an AK47 yellow does't make it any less of a weapon, how does having colored props really change anything? It's a color... That sounds rediculous...

El1te
 
This is exactly why I don't go to this convention. Color the weapons in a bright color? c'mon man, be serious. Why not have some guy in a booth for $10 an hour checking weapons at the bloody door to see if they are real or not. I'm not about to paint my $400 Hyperfirm bright orange!

I agree, the people in charge obviously are not costumer's themselves because what half intelligent person would paint a giant Lewis gun or DC-15 hot pink.
 
It may not be screen accurate to whatever version you have, but as Fett you could always carry the tuning fork thing from the holiday special. That way you have a weapon that isn't a funky color, doesn't look real, but is actually something that Fett does have and use at some point.

I agree that painting a gun a bright color is dumb on lots of levels. I have also thought about it from the "bad guy's" perspective and thought about how easy it would be to put an orange tip on a real gun (or in this case paint the whole thing). Having someone inspect the weapons makes so much more sense.
 
Unfortunately, the restrictions will probably only get worse. I will probably only be a matter of time before some nutjob paints and automatic assault rifle hot pink, and gets it past security somewhere, then goes postal:facepalm Then all our blasters will all stay at home for display only
 
if you can't carry your blaster, then what's the point point of putting the costume on?

if i see 5-10 tk's without blasters ,the effect is gone.
 
TK's are actualy better shots without the blasters. :lol: :p ;)

Also, what will I do with my Glock 17 when I go to Anime Expo? :wacko :p;) (Oh that's right...paint it yellow. :rolleyes )
 
California, MORE LIKE LOLIFORNIA

I'm not surprised. Their taking away real guns from rightful owners, they are just expanding on that. Pathetic and unconstitutional
 
Honestly, isn't this just a way for cons to get away with having less security?

Actually, they have more than enough security for this convention. They had security officers from the convention, Los Angeles Police officers with police dogs and the convention staff last year.

I don't think though that this revised weapon policy was made at the request of the LAPD officers. During the Star Wars Celebration 4 event at the Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles Police officers would run up to Imperial Stormtroopers carrying MG-34 rifles and ask to pose for pictures. (This is the same convention center where Anime Expo would be held.)

Also at the annual West Hollywood Halloween event, (With a half million people) there would be Sheriff and LAPD officers patrolling around in that event, and they didn't have any problems with costumers carrying weapon props. (As long they weren't real and they had a red tip on it. ) I even saw a female costumer carrying an M-16 airsoft rifle walk in front of a police officer on horseback and the police officer didn't even bat an eye.

Anime Expo's current policy is that the props also can't be replicas of assault rifles so even if the AK-47 or M-16 rifle toy is colored pink, it's still not allowed. The toy guns can't be constructed with materials out of metal either. (This means Boba Fett's fork weapon from the " Christmas Special" version wouldn't qualify if it's constructed out of metal.)

I saw one costumer being escorted out by the con staff last year because he carried a toy assault rifle. One costumer's prop was refused by the staff because it was a toy M-16 rifle even though it was purple neon green and the wrong size.

The con staff's reasoning behind this change in weapon policy is that the police officers would mistake the weapon props for the real thing in the dark or at a distance.

This weapon policy is not unique to Anime Expo alone. Many anime cons are starting to adopt this policy as well. This is why it worries me, because I don't want to see the day when Star Wars costumers are banned from carrying their props or even their costumes at conventions.

I really hope this is not a growing trend among cons....
 
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You can also see the video regarding their weapon policy at:

http://www.anime-expo.org/

Look on the video section on "Metal Props" & "No Metal".

And yes, they don't allow wooden or metal baseballs. It's in the "No Baseball" video section.
 
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