Post Fanime 2010 Weapons? Props? Peacebonding? Policy? Ask those ? here...

[Aelia]

BSan89~ While we may have let your friend carry that gun last year, it will not be carried this year.

AtoroAion~ I'll be at-con Thursday through Monday. I'd rather you not bring your gun, as a unanimous ruling was made. Should you want to contest it, you can see me there.

[bsan89]

Oh ok, oh well.

What about:



I plan to paint it like


What if I left the tip ORANGE?
How can I get this approve?

[Aelia]

General consensus (aside from the fact that your images are too large and are breaking the frames) is that the first gun is fine if it is peace-bonded so it may not be shot. The second gun (even with an orange tip) is too realistically painted and looks too much like an assault rifle derivative.

[Dany]

Question: I sent an email with the props that we currently have..the initial email I received back from Rovers when we were in the planning stages of building (that had what materials they would be made of, etc. as well as reference photos), they stated that the props should be fine pending final inspection and peacebonding would be required (not a problem as everything we build has a holster of some form that should be able to be ziptied, particularly if said ziptie is on the longer side).

I sent the photo of the finished product but have yet to see a response. I don't -think- anything has changed but how long should I wait before I follow up? I don't want to be a nag, but it would be nice to know what we're in for, especially since they are part of our Masquerade entries ;)

[Aelia]

As long as you are at Masquerade, your weapon does not have to be peace-bonded. When you return to the convention center from Masquerade, if you want to carry your props, it must be peace-bonded.

Please send the picture again.

[loner]

@aelia
ill be cosplaying thursday as i dont know what so far (9 cosplays to choose from), but if there is a prop to whatever i decide i just wanna know what time you will be there and if rover's will be set up for me to ask for you?

[dark-lord-of-sith]

After reading the rules for gun props I just have two questions. If it is peace-bonded into your holster how do you pose with it for photos? Dose that not defeat the whole reason to bring it in the first place?

[kimu]

Wooden swords do not have to be peacebonded into the scabbard. We prefer at least attaching the sword to your hip though. (Having discussed it, we've decided that a boken can do a lot more damage than the wooden swords most people carry, so it's cool if you can draw a wooden sword)

And for bekalou- you'd have to get it tagged, but it's OK to carry and would not have to be attached. ;) (I think I recognize you from previous years?)

Question about this peace bonding scabbards to belts....
Isn't this a potential health issue and possible safety hazard?
If I have to peace bond a wooden sword (not bokken) in a plastic sheath to my hakama, and I need to visit the bathroom? Or I want to sit down to eat or watch a panel--it's much easier and more comfortable to remove the sword/scabbard while sitting. So will I have to have something with me to cut the peacebonding off...then go back again to get it peacebonded to my hakama ties after I'm done?
Also, what if there was an emergency and people needed to evacuate while we have props that are peacebonded to us or our clothing?
All I'm asking for is please use common sense for us. I'd rather the rovers were out there watching for people acting inappropriately so those of us behaving can have a good time.

[loner]

good point!
i was in this situation when my plastic gun was peacebonded to my body armour and the only way for me to sit was to take off half my cosplay just to sit, as a result my gun cracked....

[Dany]

I would think having a separate belt may be your only option in those cases..something that would go with the costume. I'm going to have to wear two belts to take care of my stuff, but if I need to go to the restroom, I can remove the belts and give them to my husband to hold until I get back. If I'm alone...well, I may end up taking a risk and hanging them on the stall door.  Point is, if you know now you will likely have something that needs to be peacebonded to you, you've got a little time to find some way to do so without inhibiting your routine.

[loner]

at the time it was a "new rule" made up that year without notice, same gun used the previous year that was ok'd. This year i added velcro to the gun and the back of the armour/vests, so that way i can use it for my other cosplays and not have to go to peacebonding station every costume change.

I would think having a separate belt may be your only option in those cases..something that would go with the costume. I'm going to have to wear two belts to take care of my stuff, but if I need to go to the restroom, I can remove the belts and give them to my husband to hold until I get back. If I'm alone...well, I may end up taking a risk and hanging them on the stall door.  Point is, if you know now you will likely have something that needs to be peacebonded to you, you've got a little time to find some way to do so without inhibiting your routine.

[Aelia]

As I'm sure you've all heard at least once, "common sense" is not so common. Unfortunately, there are never enough Rovers, and there are an awful lot of jerks out there who are more than happy to duel on the concourse if we don't stop them.

As far as the "It's hard to sit/stand/use the bathroom with a sword attached", we've actually addressed this. As long as your sword is not metal it will simply be peace-bonded this year. This "common sense" which you've cited does apply to this year's weapons policy. I took into consideration the things you guys so happily called "stupid" (some of which I actually agreed with) and the end result is that as long as your sword is less destructive than a bokken, it does not have to be attached to you. Should you try to come with a metal sword which is not sharp, and cannot take a good edge, I will peace-tie it into the scabbard (this is pretty standard costuming policy, really) and I will expect you to keep it on a belt. This is in the weapons policy which deonchan so helpfully posted.

As far as posing with guns in holsters, well... holstered is the safest way we could come up with to allow you to carry guns. If (and this is a big if) you guys can go this whole con without a single stupid-gun incident (at least from those of you who have bothered to get peace-bonded) I will go to bat for you and try to get the gun rules loosened a bit. This does not mean that the rule will (for sure) be modified or revoked, but it does mean that I will talk to the appropriate beings on your behalf. Having an entire convention go by without a single gun brandishment issue will go a long way for you guys. So, if I hear of someone who's got a peace-bonded gun which should be in a holster and isn't, well, I will frown at you, and I will not fight for you for next year. Tough it out guys, figure out ways to either put your hand on your holstered gun to look intimidating, or come up with an intelligent compromise for me to suggest for 2011. (Emphasis on intelligent, as I do not listen to whiners.)

And Loner, I should be at-con around 3-4 pm. It might be earlier. I will try to be sure I'm ready to peace-bond you by 4pm at the latest.

[loner]

ok sweet aelia! ill cosplay something that wont have props till then, and thank you for compromising with us this year. i do know there are morons out there that run around with props that act like they have never been let out the house before...but ill speak with the groups im cosplaying with and let them know what your gonna do with the gun policy if we successfully pull off a proper con without incident, i wont act as rover because im not but im glad to see that even this year that the weapons policy isnt as bad as the last few years....i just wish more people would cosplay properly rather than act like animals :/

As I'm sure you've all heard at least once, "common sense" is not so common. Unfortunately, there are never enough Rovers, and there are an awful lot of jerks out there who are more than happy to duel on the concourse if we don't stop them.

As far as the "It's hard to sit/stand/use the bathroom with a sword attached", we've actually addressed this. As long as your sword is not metal it will simply be peace-bonded this year. This "common sense" which you've cited does apply to this year's weapons policy. I took into consideration the things you guys so happily called "stupid" (some of which I actually agreed with) and the end result is that as long as your sword is less destructive than a bokken, it does not have to be attached to you. Should you try to come with a metal sword which is not sharp, and cannot take a good edge, I will peace-tie it into the scabbard (this is pretty standard costuming policy, really) and I will expect you to keep it on a belt. This is in the weapons policy which deonchan so helpfully posted.

As far as posing with guns in holsters, well... holstered is the safest way we could come up with to allow you to carry guns. If (and this is a big if) you guys can go this whole con without a single stupid-gun incident (at least from those of you who have bothered to get peace-bonded) I will go to bat for you and try to get the gun rules loosened a bit. This does not mean that the rule will (for sure) be modified or revoked, but it does mean that I will talk to the appropriate beings on your behalf. Having an entire convention go by without a single gun brandishment issue will go a long way for you guys. So, if I hear of someone who's got a peace-bonded gun which should be in a holster and isn't, well, I will frown at you, and I will not fight for you for next year. Tough it out guys, figure out ways to either put your hand on your holstered gun to look intimidating, or come up with an intelligent compromise for me to suggest for 2011. (Emphasis on intelligent, as I do not listen to whiners.)

And Loner, I should be at-con around 3-4 pm. It might be earlier. I will try to be sure I'm ready to peace-bond you by 4pm at the latest.

[Aelia]

ok sweet aelia! ill cosplay something that wont have props till then, and thank you for compromising with us this year. i do know there are morons out there that run around with props that act like they have never been let out the house before...but ill speak with the groups im cosplaying with and let them know what your gonna do with the gun policy if we successfully pull off a proper con without incident, i wont act as rover because im not but im glad to see that even this year that the weapons policy isnt as bad as the last few years....i just wish more people would cosplay properly rather than act like animals :/

I really don't expect you to police people, that is what Rovers are there for. If you mention to them that behaving this year will work in their favor, that's enough.

There's not necessarily a whole lot I can do about guns, Airsoft will always be banned, Replicas will always be banned, and Real guns (obviously) will always be banned. I would still have to convince other people (my boss-type-people) that I wasn't crazy because of whatever I suggested, and they would still have to agree with it. But as I said, a gun-incident-free con would go a long way toward your cause. If you guys can do it, I'd be willing to try. (And I will be scrutinizing weapons incidents carefully to see if different policies could have prevented them).

[dark-lord-of-sith]

Let me get this right. If there are very few if any gun issues there will be talk of no peace-bonding to holsters for next year? Ok. I just wish I knew this sooner because I have spent a lot of money building nice looking props and now I won't be able to bring them this year. Also so there are not so many arguements and questions next year would it be possible if you post this years rules and regulations on next years site until you work out the final rules for next years con. Also are you saying if you hear about very few issues with gun props or any at all or what? Also a friend of mine plans on going as Riku from Kingdom Hearts. What are you going to do about the Key Blades. The two my friend brings are wooden.

[deonchan]

Let me get this right. If there are very few if any gun issues there will be talk of no peace-bonding to holsters for next year? Ok. I just wish I knew this sooner because I have spent a lot of money building nice looking props and now I won't be able to bring them this year. Also so there are not so many arguements and questions next year would it be possible if you post this years rules and regulations on next years site until you work out the final rules for next years con. Also are you saying if you hear about very few issues with gun props or any at all or what? Also a friend of mine plans on going as Riku from Kingdom Hearts. What are you going to do about the Key Blades. The two my friend brings are wooden.

Key Blades have always been allowed as long as they are not metal...

[Aelia]

Wooden Keyblades have always been and will continue to be OK. They will be peace-bonded only to mark that they are OK to carry, and that their owner agrees to the rules.

Please take/post/message me pictures of your guns. If I can see them pre-con, I can help you out. You will need a holster if they are hand-guns. It does not have to be a fancy holster, it just has to be a holster.

It could be possible to post this year's weapon's policy, but it will not necessarily remain unchanged. That's part of why the 2009 policy was not up; a lot changed for the 2010 policy. The 2011 policy could be even more different.

To clarify: There will only be talk if there are no gun issues, even a "few" will be too many. It will not necessarily be the holster rule, and it will definitely not be the orange-tip rule. This is not a promise that something will necessarily change. What I have said is that I will talk to the necessary superiors about loosening up a bit. The reason I say guns and not swords is because we did loosen up on swords this year.

And, dark-lord-of-sith, to address several of your older messages; "by fans for fans" means that we are not paid, and we have to do things in our free time. Free time can be at a premium for many of our staffers, as a lot of them are adults with full-time jobs. You could have had help if you had sent an email to [email protected], as was suggested many times throughout the thread.

[rislim]

Just wondering if my bow is harmless enough. Don't really want to lug it all the way from home and having to leave it in the hotel room. The structure's made of a flexible plastic strip and thin wooden rod, tied down with cheap brown rope to give it the bow shape. The frame is made of cardboard, index cards, and colored duct tape.

[Aelia]

Your bow looks good. Do you have arrows to go with it?

[deonchan]

Ok I have read through every single post here so far and my question has not been answered and I am sure someone will tell me to email a higher-up my question but I feel the need to post it here first. This year I plan to cosplay as Alucard from Hellsing. As fans know Alucard has two oversized hand guns. I am working on making props with no moving parts. I also don't want to put on orange covers on the ends of them. My props will be made out of a resin and painted and sanded down so they look good. Because of the length of them I don't think one would suspect them of being real. However I know in years past for prop guns you have had to have the orange coverings on prop guns. If you would look at this http://seraphim-sephiroth.deviantart.com/art/Hellsing-Leather-Bound-123969481 a photo from last years con she did not have the orange tips. Please could someone get back to me on what I should do. My gun props will look like the ones in the link.

This was just brought to my attention. We will not be deviating from the orange tip portion of the policy this year at all.