Im not going to be consuming alcohol so that is a non issue for me
As I understand it the signs hold the same power as the owner of the property verbally saying no guns allowed. So if you go past the sign carrying you can and, no doubt, will be issued a trespass for the property which is no big deal unless you want to be there which is probably the case with OP and his children if they traveled out of town to attend the fair.
Of course I've yet to see any legal documentation that explains what power the signs hold except once and it has since disappeared from view.
I have been in past years and carried, just like I always do pretty much everywhere I go. If there were signs I did not see them. I was with the family and not partaking of any alcoholic beverages.
I did notice quite a visible police/security presence, both inside and in the parking areas.
I did notice quite a visible police/security presence, both inside and in the parking areas.
So I guess it wouldnt be the right time to start open carrying...
It's in Muskogee, you better be carrying!
This.
Im in Coweta too. One of our kids was in Muskogee that day there was a gang type of shooting at the mall.
I hear ya on carrying in muskogee.
Grew up there but moved to coweta after the Marines. I still work down there but no way i would ever live there. Most of my family lives there so we are threw alot still. Coweta is a great city to live in and still close enough to see the family.
I think legal precedence is with signs like "shirt/tie required" or "No shirt, no shoes, no service". If someone goes in a place of business not dressed in the attire specified, and the owner chooses to call the police instead of asking that person to leave, the responding officer will in all likelihood not issue you a trespass citation, but ask the owner if they have asked you to leave (in case you might have missed the sign) and then ask you to leave. If the owner does ask you to leave and you refuse (but aren't acting in accordance with felony trespassing), then it's only a misdemeanor. Now if you're being a jackass and taking it up a notch, it could qualify as felony trespassing (especially when a gun is involved - others can feel "threatened" by your actions if they're even remotely aggressive should they know you have a gun).
That's presumed to be the case with concealed carry since the "no guns" or similar sign holds the same weight legally. If I happen to not see a sign and carry in a place that is completely legal to carry in per Oklahoma state law, I really can't be issued a citation based on the sign (it's not an official sign like a speed limit sign) if my defense is that I did not see the sign and the sign isn't really an official sign that I should recognize anyways (or that the sign is too cryptic to understand like the revolver-buster sign when I happen to be carrying a semi-auto, etc...).
Now if you carry where you shouldn't on an anti-gunner's private property and get caught - and are asked to leave, you absolutely should (legally) as you are now risking trespassing charges. Owning private property does not, however, give you the right to detain someone, so if you are told to stay there and someone is calling the cops because you're carrying on private property despite a gun-buster sign, you have no obligation to follow their orders - you can simply explain that you didn't see the sign and leave (even here you've technically broken no laws).
This is why I like open-carry laws - you can accidentally expose your concealed gun (and be seen by an anti-gunner) and there's no risk of being accused of "brandishing".
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