[Guaraca]

My son won two tickets to the NBA Crossover Event at the Salt Palace in conjunction with All-Star Weekend. Normally I would avoid the entire downtown area like the plague this weekend, but he really has his heart set on going. My wife even observed that Trax is free this weekend and that it would be fun to take my 7 year old to ride the train to get to his event.

Here's what their "Additional Event Information" says about the Salt Palace: "In accordance with Utah's "concealed carry" law and the right to ban handguns on their premises, firearms and other weapons of any kind are strictly forbidden on the premises of the Salt Palace Convention Center."

Other than my understanding being that their statement is completely false (correct me if I'm wrong), does anyone know if they will have metal detectors or wands at this event? I hate the idea of being disarmed at such a large gathering, especially if I'm riding the train to and from the event. I won't even have a car that I can run my handgun back to if they do happen to have metal detectors, so I'm hoping someone on here knows what to expect at this event. Are they just saying that, but won't have means to enforce a ban on concealed carry? Should I skip the train and drive my own car so I have more control over where I'm armed?
I'm still pretty confused about the Salt Palace in general as far as concealed carry goes. From what I understand it's a public building, so Utah's pre-emption statute should make it untouchable, but most of the events that take place there seem to have a no weapons policy. Does anyone know a definitive answer about the Salt Palace or is there no definitive answer?

Thanks!

 

[Guaraca]

I decided to take my own car, and I locked my gun up in the car.

They did have metal detectors up and a large police presence.

While I wish they couldn’t get away with banning guns from a public building I feel better about them actually having the means to enforce it for everyone entering. The main problem I had with it today was that they couldn’t accommodate everyone and we had to line up down the street for an hour to get in. Someone could easily have attacked the whole crowd of unarmed victims without anyone to oppose them.
I also have to vent about the biggest efficiency fail in the history of lines. The line went all the way up the block. As we got closer to the doors they split us into three lines only to force us back into a single line 50 feet later to funnel through a SINGLE DOOR into the Salt Palace. That certainly didn’t help my assessment of them creating a huge group of possible victims.