Forum - View topicNEWS: Phoenix Comicon Staff Ban Prop Weapons Following Man's Arrest
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GracieLizzy
 Posts: 551 Location: Sunderland, England, UK |
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In other news a custom high end lightsaber prop maker had their table terminated from the convention for refusing to comply with the convention committee and Phoenix PD's new prop sale policy:
https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/05/27/ultrasabers-ejected-phoenix-comicon-reluctance-comply-new-weapons-sales-directive/ Sounds like childishness on the side of Ultrasabers but I do agree that banning lightsaber props seemed a bit OTT to me because they don't remotely look like real weapons and I'd imagine they'd break if anyone tried to hit someone else with one. EDIT: Okay just checked the website and apparently the lightsabers they make are designed to be "durable enough to fight with" so I suppose the police were trying to avoid a "even a bokken can kill" situation. I am guessing that they think a blanket ban on even foam props is easier and quicker to enforce? |
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revolutionotaku
Posts: 886 |
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I honestly believe it's the convention's fault since the perpetrator was able to sneak in through a unlocked door.
I also believe that this ban on prop weapons is going way too far. |
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GracieLizzy
Posts: 551 Location: Sunderland, England, UK |
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Yeah it does seem a little excessive, but re-reading the statement they've issued it might be the local police that have taken the demands so far. |
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Dessa
 Posts: 4438 |
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I can very much see this as a compromise between the convention, the venue, and the police.
Any event that allows prop weaponry and has to rent a venue and deal with local law enforcement has to walk a fine line. They want to allow people to have realistic props and all, but the general rule of thumb is that it has to be recognizable as fake/peacebonded from a distance by someone who doesn't know the difference. In this case, what I'm guessing happened is that the venue and the police pointed out that, however it happened, someone got past the convention/venue/police security (depending on the venue and the event, there could be any combination of all three), and that at this point, it's better to get rid of all weapons, since there's already problems telling the difference. Additionally, once word of this got out to the general attendees, especially those who are just parents attending with children who wanted to go, there's a chance of panic. "Wait, that person has a weapon. How do I know it's fake?" Trust me, even with foam or cardboard, you can get some VERY realistic looking weapons. So it's in the convention's best interest to ban all weapons as a stop-gap for now, and look at ways to address potential further problems after the event is over. |
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16935 |
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Given what had just transpired at that con banning all prop weapons for the duration of that convention was the smart move. The man came in there with multiple firearms and could have killed far more people then just JDF. Removing all prop weapons for the duration of that event while they re-evaluate things was the proper move. Not over reacting. After that incident if a single person hurt someone with a nail file there that con staff as an organization would be inundated with lawsuits. Moving forward is where the tricky part is. Honestly conventions do need better security. Many have zero. Even at something as large as Otakon which I go to every year bags are not searched. People freely walk into the cons with backpacks that could have anything from guns to bombs. The fact is there are crazy people out there and conventions need to understand that. There do need to be some sort of tighter measures to help prevent things like this moving forward. Thankfully this situation ended with the best possible scenario. I think banning all prop weapons period for all cons moving forward is not the proper step, but something should be done. |
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Shiggity
 Posts: 366 Location: Boston, MA |
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Hey all. Check out a video I made on this whole situation. It's technically a response to someone else's video, but the content is there. Let me know what you think.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eb9GqBrMHw4 |
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revolutionotaku
Posts: 886 |
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I have a bad feeling that if this prop ban happens at every convention in the US, they will lose a ton of money from con goers who will decide to quit attending. This might also result some conventions to permanently shut down.
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Shiggity
Posts: 366 Location: Boston, MA |
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Yeah that's what I hypothesize in my video. |
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KH91
Posts: 6176 |
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So glad he was caught. You don't try to kill JDF (and other people) and get away with it
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GracieLizzy
Posts: 551 Location: Sunderland, England, UK |
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I didn't consider the litigation side of things but that is a good point. I am just relieved nobody was hurt. I am rather disconcerted that he managed to get in via an unmonitored door. Hopefully something can be implemented in the future so that props can still be brought to conventions but I will admit I am stumped as to what to do. |
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leafy sea dragon
 Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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Based on what I can remember studying criminology, the most likely reason he wanted to target JDF was because the guy is the highest-profile person he could reach. Such a person is extremely angry at the world in general and wants to be as infamous as possible. Basically, take the mindset of a troll and bring it to its most extreme: He very likely wanted to kill people to upset other people, to cause a scene and be the person everyone's talking about, and to ruin what's supposed to be a fun event. Of course, without any further information or evidence, all we can do is speculate. (There are many other possible reasons too, but we'll never know for sure. Only the cops and the attorneys can possibly know.)
It is 100% the fault of the guy with lots of weapons. He was the one who decided to bring all those firearms in, he was the one who decided he would shoot to kill people, he was the one to cause a panic at the place, and he was the one who required police intervention to stop. He's not some force of nature without a will of his own; he planned all this out, and he alone was responsible for the incident. He simply exploited a weakness in the security. It'd only be primarily the fault of the convention security if they were part of some conspiracy to let him in to cause the trouble he did, and I very highly doubt they did. |
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Sakagami Tomoyo
 Posts: 940 Location: Melbourne, VIC, Australia |
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As a long-term measure? Yes. But as a "we don't have much time to work out details for a proper solution, but we need to do something or we can't run the convention this year" thing, it's reasonable.
A total prop ban across all conventions is unlikely. I would expect something like what Melbourne Anime Festival had; check your prop weapons at the door, you can get them for the cosplay competition or other limited cosplay-related purposes, but not to just walk around with. Some cons might be a bit more or a bit less restrictive, some might outright ban, some might not restrict a damn thing. But either way I personally don't see any conventions dying just because some cosplayers can't carry their prop weapons everywhere. |
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar Posts: 16935 |
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I agree I don't see any cons dying if it came to a prop weapon ban. How many cosplayers actually use them? What is the percentage of those users compared to the rest at the con? Larger cons, and those more geared towards cosplay, might take a bigger hit but overall even if cons everywhere went to the extreme and banned weapons period I doubt it would make much of a dent in attendance. What they might also do is simply ban anything modern or in particular ban firearms related props. Anything such as swords and staffs etc at most, if not all, cons can't have metal of any sort already. So those props are some form of cardboard or foam or rubber. They also aren't going to make someone wonder "is that 9mm gun truly a prop or not?" like a gun might. So I could see cons simply banning firearms. I think the steps cons take will also depend on their size. I see larger cons taking more steep measures simply because they won't have the staff to check on everyone's prop weapon and staff the con itself. The more law enforcement they get means they have to be paid which means ticket prices increase. Now I am fine with that as a matter of safety but many people probably would complain as many con prices are high enough as is. |
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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Not to mention that, as far as conventions go, anime conventions are actually on the cheaper side. Every convention and expo I've gone to in the past 3 years that isn't free and isn't anime-related has cost me more for admission than any anime convention. |
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