Man Accidentally Fires Handgun Entering Virginia Gun Show - Charged With Reckless Handling

[sourdough44]

Always thought it was weird that you can't carry in a gun show.

Is that for real? I took a rifle to a gunshow 6 months ago, looking to sell. It was a bolt-action rifle, I took the bolt out before I left home.
I don’t like the idea of unloading a CC gun at the front door of a gunshow, or in a vehicle. I’m a ‘deeper cover’ kind of guy.

[Scary Guy]

There are two types of guns at gun shows. Those you intend to sell, and those you intend to carry for protection.

Not that I think anything is going to happen on the way to the parking lot with your potentially thousands of dollars in newly found firearms/accessories, but the chance is always there. Also if people leave their firearms locked up in their car when they go in, well just hope no one breaks in. The Novi lot is HUGE and it can be a long way to/from the vehicle. Hopefully there are cameras on the lot though so at least you can watch video later of your vehicle getting broken into/yourself assaulted and robbed.

If you take them in you have to unload them, and you have to handle the firearm to do so. Coincidentally that's also the time it's most likely to discharge as well.

It's unfortunately true that there are a lot of idiots who probably shouldn't handle guns. This is a bell curve of both inexperienced idiots and overconfident professional idiots, with the most responsible users being somewhere in the middle.

I would be interested in the statistics of incidences to compare before the no carry rule was put in place to after. Or was it just always there as a matter of "safety?"

I don't need to unload before I go into a gun shop (and if I needed to I'd probably shop elsewhere) so I don't see why the show is any different. On the plus side at least I saw an onduty cop hanging out. Though he was walking around shopping so I'm not sure if he was there for the whole show or just on his break.