The National Rifle Association is returning to Indianapolis in 2019 for the NRA convention and annual meeting. Here are some things you need to know if you go.
Dwight Adams, dwight.adams@indystar.com
The National Rifle Association’s three-day convention in Indianapolis this week is expected to bring more than 75,000 people to the city’s hotels and restaurants, and some are expected to being carrying firearms.
What those attendees can expect when checking in and dining during the April 26-28 event, however, isn’t entirely clear.
IndyStar reached out to nine Downtown hotels, the corporate owners of six Downtown restaurants and Circle Centre Mall to learn about their policies concerning patrons and firearms. Only one hotel, the JW Marriott, responded. Many others did not respond to repeated inquiries. Policies of the few restaurants that responded varied, with at least one allowing concealed carry permit holders to bring their firearm inside.
IndyStar also asked the NRA what kind of hotel and restaurant guidance it provides to members who bring personal firearms to its conventions as well as how many convention-goers tend to bring such firearms. The organization didn’t address IndyStar’s questions, only saying that attendees should heed federal, state and local laws.
The NRA convention is coming.Here’s where it’s legal to carry a gun.
JW Marriott talks about its firearms policies
Many of the hotels IndyStar reached out to also did not have firearm policies listed on their websites. At the JW Marriott on South West Street, general manager Phil Raysaid guests are permitted to have handguns inside the hotel but that they must be secured in a hotel safe.
“If we had any of our housekeeping staff — if they were to go up to a guest room and find a handgun that was on the desk or table — then we’re trained to get our management team involved and to get the police involved to secure that weapon,” Ray said.
The hotel’s security protocols involve not only guests’ firearms but also helping those guests sidestep possible protests of the NRA convention. He also noted that the hotel put together a post-convention report after Indianapolis hosted the 2014 NRA convention.
That effort documented how late guests tended to stay out and what restaurants they preferred, among other information the hotel is using to prepare for the convention, Ray said.
“There are people who are huge, huge fans, and then there are people who are not fans. We know there’s always a risk of having protesters in the city as well,” he said. “We make sure our security understands that, and we make sure we refresh our staff on the appropriate way to handle any protesters — to what is legal and what is not legal.”
Generally, the hotel industry has remained silent on the topic, preferring instead to remain outside of conversations about guest safety and firearms. The Indiana Restaurant & Lodging Association hasn’t followed up to several IndyStar inquiries about the topic.
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The American Hotel & Lodging Association, a hospitality industry lobbying organization, declined to speak on the record about what guidance, if any, it provides to major hotel chains about implementing gun policies.
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Other hotels that did not respond to multiple IndyStar inquiries about the NRA convention are The Alexander, Hyatt’s corporate office, Courtyard by Marriott Downtown Indianapolis, Crowne Plaza Indianapolis Downtown Union Station, Hampton Inn Downtown, Hilton Garden Inn Downtown, the Homewood Suites by Hilton Downtown, The Westin Indianapolis, and Sleep Inn & Suites and Conference Center Downtown.
Visit Indy spokesman Chris Gahl said his organization has not heard concerns about the convention from any of its more than 650 business or tourism partners. Gahl was instrumental in bringing the NRA convention to Indianapolis.
As with 2014 NRA convention, Indy started prepping year in advance
The 2014 NRA convention in Indianapolis was the city’s first. As it did ahead of that event, Gahl said, Visit Indy spent nearly a year preparing to host this year’s convention, meeting with city officials, tourism partners and the staff at the Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium to ensure the city was ready to host a citywide convention.
“As part of this preparation, we’ve made our partners aware that this conference will bring more than 75,000 visitors, many of whom will carry a firearm,” Gahl said. “We’ve also prepared partners and reminded partners of Indiana’s gun laws.”
Like many of the hotels contacted for this story, a spokesperson for McCormick & Schmick’s corporate office did not follow up to several inquiries about the convention. Some restaurants did. An employee who answered the phone at St. Elmo’s Steak House, a restaurant popular with both locals and tourists, said guests can carry concealed handguns as long as they have a license.
Circle Centre Mall, however, does not. The mall’s food court, which has a variety of dining options like Chick-fil-A and Subway, typically attracts attendees from conventions.
“We will continue to enforce our Code of Conduct, which explicitly prohibits firearms in the mall as we did when the NRA was last here in 2014,” mall manager Nick Strause said in a statement.
NRA describes firearms policy for its convention
In a statement to IndyStar, NRA spokesperson Catherine Mortensen said otherwise legal personal firearms will be permitted inside the Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium for much of the convention.
An exception to that, she said, involves Friday’s NRA Institute for Legislative Action Leadership Forum, during which President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are expected to speak. All firearms, firearm accessories, knives and all other weapons will be prohibited there. The U.S. Secret Service is handling security at the event.
Indiana allows licensed gun owners to carry a handgun in public. The law is silent on whether handguns have to be concealed, but the Indiana State Police warns that carrying an exposed handgun in public maybe alarming to some people and create unnecessary attention.
The department also advises people that the right to carry firearms may be restricted on private property by some business owners.
“Be attentive for posted signs warning of restricted areas when carrying a firearm into public places,” the department says on its website.
Call IndyStar reporter Alexandria Burris at 317-617-2690. Follow her on Twitter: @allyburris.
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