A gun show buyout? One NC city took a remarkable stand

We’re all struggling over what to do about guns and violence. Crippled by grief and overcome by the complexity of the issue, we wind up doing the same old same thing — send out thoughts and prayers, bicker over the Second Amendment and double-check the lock on the schoolhouse door. Then we brace for the next shedding of blood.

Not in Greensboro.

Long before Uvalde became another word for horror, the Greensboro Coliseum took a stand: No more gun shows on our property. Leaders there understood that this might not prevent the next madman from browsing the aisles elsewhere for a good deal on a weapon of mass destruction. There are 5,000 gun and knife shows each year in the United States, including hundreds in the Carolinas. Plenty of private and other public venues are happy to cash the checks of promoters who put these things on.

But no matter its practical impact, this act of courage by Greensboro is worth affirming. So is every step taken to quell gun violence.

Greensboro confronted the issue after the 2018 massacre that claimed 17 lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Though the Greensboro Coliseum — owned and operated by the city — had been hosting gun shows since the 1970s, Mayor Nancy Vaughan challenged business as usual. She suggested no longer allowing guns to be sold on city property, in this case the Coliseum’s Special Events Center.

Many municipalities that rent space to gun shows cut those deals before Sandy Hook, Parkland et al. made it an issue. Most municipalities respond in predictable fashion. Five days after 19 children and two teachers were murdered at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Tex., a gun show was scheduled for the publicly owned Winston-Salem Fairgrounds. The show went on, for as Winston-Salem’s news release stated, they can’t rent the property to others but refuse to rent it for a gun show.

In case you’re wondering, the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority does not have a policy that specifically addresses renting public space to gun shows. It did, however, host the NRA’s Annual Meeting & Expo in 2000 and 2010. Bargains aplenty abounded.

What Greensboro did is remarkable, and worthy of more attention than it received, especially after Uvalde. For $400,000, they bought ownership rights to the Greensboro Gun Show and its potential show dates through 2025.

Andrew Brown, public relations manager for the Greensboro Coliseum Complex, says $175,000 has been paid to date. Three future payments of $75,000 are due annually through 2025. The deal also calls for the gun show’s producer not to put on a show elsewhere in the city limits during that time. Income generated from booking more youth athletic events is covering the cost of the gun show buyout.

Gun show buyout. It has a nice ring to it.

Only a dreamer would believe that a city choosing not to host gun shows will significantly stem the tide of violence. But only a fool would believe that doing nothing is a better path forward.

We’ve got to do something.

Elected officials at every level can make it harder for minors and madmen to secure automatic weapons.

Educators can bolster security (short of guns for teachers, a terrible idea).

Law enforcement can more effectively prepare for the inevitable.

All of us — parents, teachers, mental health professionals, clergy, Scout leaders, anyone who works with youth — can keep a sharper eye out for the kids in the shadows. The ones silently crying out for someone to ask them, “Are you OK?”

And if you are a city that has booked a gun and knife show on the people’s property, you can do what Greensboro did.

Declare “Not here.”