Meeting Mentor Magazine

March 2024

IAVM Survey

Majority of Venue Managers Would
Prohibit Firearms If They Had a Choice

Forty-four of 50 states in the U.S. now allow some form of “open carry” of firearms, although those laws vary widely. What does this mean for public venues? Should a prohibition on guns in the venue trump a state’s desire to allow citizens to exercise their Second Amendment rights?

With those questions in mind, International Association of Venue Managers VenueDataSource recently undertook a survey. Responding venue managers represented large, medium and small arenas/civic centers, stadiums, convention centers and theater/performing arts centers.

Here are a few key findings from “Firearms in the Venue”:
• Two-thirds (66%) of venue managers surveyed work in states that permit open carry of firearms, and where local jurisdictions cannot pass contradictory legislation.
• More than half (56%) of respondents are permitted to establish policies regarding open carry of firearms into the venue, and of those, 61% prohibit customers from bringing them into the building.
• State open carry laws confuse venue professionals, since regulatory levels can differ considerably: permissive (no license required); licensed; may-issue (rarely granting licenses); anomalous (legality varies by locality); non-permissive (lawful under limited circumstances); rural (where population is below a threshold).
• Prohibitions on open carry in licensed liquor venues appear contradictory or inconsistent, the report noted. This is important, since 93% of responding venues sell alcoholic beverages on premises. Some 41% of venue managers who serve liquor on premises (and where licensed liquor establishments prohibit open carry) are still compelled to allow open carry into their buildings.
• Respondents believe the laws have a negative impact on securing events (8%), and on attendance (9%).
• Permission to allow lessees to decide handguns can enter the venue is granted more often at convention centers and other venue types than at arenas, stadiums and performing arts centers.
• As a result of their open carry laws, half of respondents had to take some action; for 33% that mostly involved increased visibility and training of security personnel.

The upshot: 61% of responding venue managers would not allow firearms in the venue at all if they had a choice. Click here to find out more about the study. — Maxine Golding

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ConferenceDirect is a global meetings solutions company offering site selection/contract negotiation, conference management, housing & registration services, mobile app technology and strategic meetings management solutions. It provides expertise to 4,400+ associations, corporations, and sporting authorities through our 400+ global associates. www.conferencedirect.com

About MeetingMentor
MeetingMentor, is a business journal for senior meeting planners that is distributed in print and digital editions to the clients, prospects, and associates of ConferenceDirect, which handles over 13,000 worldwide meetings, conventions, and incentives annually. www.meetingmentormag.com

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