MEMPHIS, Tenn. — WREG was the first to break the news you couldn’t bring guns to BBQ Fest, despite a new state law.
However, some said Memphis in May should be doing more to make sure people abide by that rule.
John Maciejewski was like many people who come from all over the country for Memphis’s BBQ Fest, but given where he was from, he understood the importance of security at large events better than most.
“I’m from Boston,” he said, referencing the Boston Marathon bombing. “So, I know what security’s about.”
At Memphis in May’s BBQ Fest even carry permit holders were not allowed to bring guns in.
“Don’t bring in any weapons of any type,” Valerie Morris with Memphis in May said. “No strollers. No selfie sticks. Those are the types of things we want to make sure don’t come into the park.”
WREG watched security check the waistbands of some men, but not every man who walked in got searched.
“I was not checked going in,” one man told us.
Although purses and jackets were searched, women didn’t have to show their waistbands, and that’s not sitting well with some.
“Equal rights. I think it should be both,” one person said. “You never know. A woman could do the same thing.”
Morris refused to discuss guns, but she said workers would check thoroughly for weapons.
“They’ll just ensure that they don’t see anything on you visually that could be any weapon of any kind,” she said.
She added the festival may consider using metal detectors or wands in the future.
“We’re always looking at enhancing and making sure our patrons are safe and secure,” Morris said. “So, anything that makes them safer in the future, we’d be glad to look at it.”