4219 Industries
Active Member
Necro'ing a bit for this thread as I don't post all that often and saw this just now.
Denver Comic Con originally said "no realistic guns, but the more unrealistic the better". All the way up to the convention. Then, Friday rolls around and people (such as myself in my Captain Cold outfit and its completely-not-real-looking Cold Gun) are being yanked out of line and told they can't bring their props inside, even if other convention staff had already peacebonded them. Then, they "updated" their policy to say "no gun-like props at all" the Saturday of the convention, and even then, they only announced it on their Facebook page.
This year, Albuquerque Comic Con also instituted a "no weapon-like props of any kind whatsoever" policy, to boot. Captain Cold has to stay home again once more and Star Lord goes without his Element Guns, but I'm willing to bet I see more than a few Harley Quinns and their bats or Negans and their barbed wire-coated bats, just like I did at DCC.
This entire approach is bordering on insanity. Many of these props couldn't be mistaken for a real weapon by Mister Magoo at a hundred paces, much less to someone in law enforcement who should know what a real gun looks like on sight. People pour time, effort, money, heart, and soul into making these things only to have overzealous security folks lose their minds and disregard basic critical thinking the second they see gunmetal-colored paint. It kills one of the fun aspects of going to conventions in favor of pure paranoia.
As mentioned, none of these measures are going to stop anyone set on causing trouble. Nobody is going to hide a rifle and ammo in a ray gun when you can hide two shotguns and a dozen pistols in the maneuvering gear of an Attack on Titan cosplay that will go through security without anyone batting an eye. These measures only serve to hurt attendance, and I really hope those in charge of conventions get their heads out of their rear crevasses before this panic-induced mindlessness gets any worse.
