NRA Houston Metro Banquet & Auction

[Vol Texan]

I just receive an email from the Friends of NRA announcing this event on August 7. Shame, I'll be out of the country on those days, so I cannot attend.

My question is...why hold it in the SPJST Lodge? It's a 51% location...and that means nobody who attends will be allowed to carry their CHL.

Sure, perhaps they got a good deal on the venue. Perhaps they saved a lot of $$. Perhaps the owner or operator is a strong supporter of the 2A (after all, the TABC posting is only a reflection of the sales percentage, not of the owner's personal feelings). But it sure seems that in the 4th largest city in the US, there should be at least one other, very acceptable location that does not have a red gun sign.

[Chemist45]

I cannot speak for the Houston group but I have been on a number of FONRA committees and can give you some reasoning:
First and foremost, the point of these dinners is to raise money for the NRA foundation.
People want to have fun and want to drink (responsibly of course).
People tend to spend more freely when they have had a bit of alcohol.
It may well be that the committee made the decision to have the dinner at a venue that serves alcohol for the above reasons.
It may well be that the only venue they could find that allowed them to serve alcohol was 51% posted.

Speaking from experience, it can be very difficult to find an NRA friendly location that doesn't cost a fortune that is available on the proper night that is close to your location.
If everything else was perfect, I would have voted for the 51% location.

[Jumping Frog]

That is exactly why I have not attended Friends of NRA banquets in Houston (except when the National Annual Meeting was downtown a couple years ago). There is no way I am attending any function that requires me to disarm.

Frankly, I am offended that whoever is organizing this is so clueless.

In fact, I have previously posted on this exact subject back in 2013: Houston Friends of NRA: Open mouth, insert foot

People want to have fun and want to drink (responsibly of course).
People tend to spend more freely when they have had a bit of alcohol.

I have eaten at dozens and dozens of restaurants in the Houston area that serve beer, wine, and liquor. They are blue sign establishments.

Note that to be a 51% location, the establishment really needs to primarily be a bar, not a restaurant.

I don't think your reasoning holds water.

[joelamosobadiah]

That is exactly why I have not attended Friends of NRA banquets in Houston (except when the National Annual Meeting was downtown a couple years ago). There is no way I am attending any function that requires me to disarm.

Frankly, I am offended that whoever is organizing this is so clueless.

In fact, I have previously posted on this exact subject back in 2013: Houston Friends of NRA: Open mouth, insert foot

People want to have fun and want to drink (responsibly of course).
People tend to spend more freely when they have had a bit of alcohol.

I have eaten at dozens and dozens of restaurants in the Houston area that serve beer, wine, and liquor. They are blue sign establishments.

Note that to be a 51% location, the establishment really needs to primarily be a bar, not a restaurant.

I don't think your reasoning holds water.

There is also a big difference between a "restaurant" and a "venue". You are correct, finding a restaurant that would be a blue sign establishment would be fairly simple, but would it meet other necessary criteria (space, catering, exclusive use of the establishment, etc.).

I have been to several concerts (where no alcohol was being served at a couple of them) that were posted 51% locations simply because they didn't offer any food service, but since they occasionally served alcohol, they were required to have a liquor license and the absence of food sales almost automatically caused it to be a 51% location.

Not that any of this makes it "right" or "okay" for the NRA to have an event at such a place, but I can understand the difficulty of finding an appropriate venue that is also a blue sign establishment.

[Jumping Frog]

There is also a big difference between a "restaurant" and a "venue". You are correct, finding a restaurant that would be a blue sign establishment would be fairly simple, but would it meet other necessary criteria (space, catering, exclusive use of the establishment, etc.).

My employer has organized dinner-dance type functions, such as Christmas banquets, for years accommodating 500-700 attendees without any difficulty. None have ever been posted 30.06 nor have they been 51%. A failure to choose a venue allowing firearms means allowing concealed carry was never made part of the criteria.

[Chemist45]

Jumping frog wrote:

My employer has organized dinner-dance type functions, such as Christmas banquets, for years accommodating 500-700 attendees without any difficulty. None have ever been posted 30.06 nor have they been 51%. A failure to choose a venue allowing firearms means allowing concealed carry was never made part of the criteria.

Your employer has the luxury of dictating when, where and how.

Have you ever served on a Friends of the NRA Committee?
I have.
It is a lot more difficult to get a group of people to agree on a venue (Time, date, location, what to serve, etc) than it is for an employer who can simply dictate.

Friends committees are made up of housewives, retirees, blue collar folks, white collar folks and everything in between.
I remind you again that the main goal is to raise money for the NRA foundation in order to support the shooting sports.
There are as many different opinions on how to do that best as there are people on the committee.