OK, I got an answer on carry on the fairgrounds (Updated here). Here’s the email chain that followed that update.

I will be happy to provide you with a copy as soon as I am able. Please provide a mailing address. I am disappointed that you will not be attending any future fairs. The goal of the fair is to provide a fun and safe environment for all. I would ask that you take a moment to consider that we have to run the fair as a business and therefore, must take into consideration the comfort and safety of our patrons or they will be less likely to attend. We do not wish for our fair to be a forum for second amendment rights, but rather a palce for locals to come for some family fun. I can assure you that the gates will be more clearly posted in the future. We make evry effort to be reasonable and accomodating. If you have any further questions, feel free to e-mail me. Here is another quote for you…from All in the Family (1968)
Gloria: Do you know that sixty percent of all deaths in America are caused by
guns?
Archie Bunker: Would it make you feel any better, little girl, if they was pushed out of windows?
Regards,
Mike

Well, after I got that, I replied with this:

My mailing address is:
blah blah blah

The quote from All in the Family is cute, but did you (or they) consider the criminal and not the tool? Archie’s answer is very apt. A murderer is going to find a way to do what he’s going to do whether it’s with a gun or a multi-story shove out a window.
As for myself and my family attending the fair, that will not happen until your policy changes. My and my family’s safety is more important to me than someone else’s fear of the unknown.
I will not make further comments about my right to self defense, I would just like to ask you one further question: Do you believe in CPR?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLrN9UjGTwk&feature=share

The I got this:

You and Archie are right on point…the criminal will do what he wants with or without the gun. My point is to make the folks at the fair feel safe.
You probably aren’t aware, as most people are not, that this past fair a teen won or bought a soft pellet rifle that resembled an AR-15. As he was loading pellets into it in the parking lot, several families saw him. Not knowing it was a toy, they pressed the panic button and called 911. That set off a chain of events, that while unfounded, caused a reaction by law enforcement and panic among patrons in the parking lot. Thankfully, it was quickly resolved by our “thugs” and the State Police etc. were called off. My point is that most threats are perceived and perception is reality. That incident had the potential to cause chaos. Thankfully, it did not. I hope that someday, you are able to look at this from a slightly different perspective.
In regards to what you may think of me and my personal views, don’t make any assumptions. The reality is, I am obligated to the fair and fairgoers and must put my personal beliefs aside in order to have a successful fair. And yes, I am willing to do that to keep the fair going for the next generation to enjoy. Thanks.
Mike

So I replied with this:

If I saw someone loading what appeared to be an ar15 in the parking lot I would alert the authorities as well. That is a different subject entirely.
I prefer to actually be safe rather than *feel* safe. There is a significant difference there.
As to the thugs comment. I have had past experiences with those two specific individuals that confronted me, and they are thugs with badges, they are most definitely not peace officers. I have also had other confrontations, started by people with badges, because they want to make up the rules as they go, and that is unacceptable. The rules are (or should be) clearly defined for a reason. My open carrying is not illegal (with the standard exceptions such as when a property owner doesn’t allow it), but because the thugs with badges want to be the only ones with guns, they threaten me (and others) with arrest and sometimes worse.
If you want people to feel safe, allow them to actually be safe, don’t force them to rely on someone with a badge that may be nearby, that will respond too slow to be of any real assistance and statistically does more collateral damage than a private citizen with a gun (citizens are held accountable, “officials” almost never are).
Feeling safe falls in the same category as giving every player a trophy, even when when they suck. It does nothing of substance for anyone.
The reason I make assumptions about your philosophy is because if you are willing set aside your values for one thing, do you actually hold true to anything? If you truly believed in the right to self defense, you would go in front of the board (or whatever) and vote your conscience, not assume that all people are children.
I have been open carrying for a few years now, and I can honestly tell you that the only people that have ever given me a problem about it are the ones with the badges. Most people don’t even notice, and of the few that do, they typically ask if it’s legal because they didn’t know. I have not once had someone call the police to report a man with a gun. Not once.
Treat people like responsible adults and you might be surprised by the result.

Did anyone at the fair report a man with a gun? (other than the kid loading his airsoft rifle). Did you get any complaints about me? Why do you automatically assume people are going to act like children?

And he answered with this:

You make very good points. Maybe a coffee some day. I will mail you new rules once adopted. I understand your point of view. I am simply looking out for the best interest of the fair. I hate to see you angry with us. If you have any more questions or problems, please email me.

Regards,
Mike

And I had to answer that one too:
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In all honesty, I am not angry that your policy is to not allow firearms. There is no point in getting angry about that. I simply will not give the fair my business. You have your policy, I have mine.
What did bother me was:
a) the orange shirts attitude
b) the fact that no one I spoke to seemed to know what the actual policy was (including “security”)
c) the policy is not clearly posted anywhere
d) the fact that a month after I sent the initial email I still hadn’t received a response
e) the first response that I did finally get, was the one from George. Spelling and grammar errors aside, that’s a hell of an attitude to give someone for asking for an official policy with background history so you know why the request was made in the first place

Again, I’m not mad about the policy. But, I do feel it is my duty to make sure that the public is aware that the fairgrounds are a victim disarmament zone.

Call it what you like, but by making it a gun-free zone you are turning everyone that enters into a victim. I do not want to see a murderer go on a killing spree there ever, I’m related to a lot of people that go to the fair, but if it does happen a lot of innocent people will die because you have knowingly turned them all into victims.

This may sound like a harsh accusation, but it is the truth. By creating a gun-free zone you are creating tens of thousands of law abiding victims or turning people into criminals for not trusting your hired help with their own lives. And to make matters worse, if I, as a license holder, knowingly violate your no guns policy it’s a felony (making me a prohibited person) whereas if someone without a license carries a gun there it’s a misdemeanor. Who is more likely to ignore your signs? The person with the training and knowledge to use the weapon responsibly or the person who does it cause he thinks it’s cool?

No, I’m not angry about the policy, I’m just disappointed. Oh, by the way, I have openly carried at the Luzerne County Fair without incident, and I would expect more paranoid city folk there than at Wyoming County.

And that supposedly ended the chain of emails… but something was bothering me, so I did some research and sent him this:

Hello again, this is not to beat the firearms on fair property issue any further. That quote you sent me from All in the Family just didn’t feel right, that whole “60% of all deaths in America caused by guns thing”. Since it didn’t sound right to me, I decided to do some research. I didn’t find any real numbers for 1968 in my brief search, but judging by what I did find, I don’t believe that 60% thing. Here’s what I did find:

From the CDC for 2007 – firearms don’t make the top 5 list, but the top 5 list makes up over 64% of all deaths.

From another source that claims to have compiled his statistics from data reported by the
National Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 50, No. 15, September 16, 2002 – Firearms are the number 10 in the top 10 with 1.2% of all deaths (note that this 1.2% includes homicide, self-defense and police shootings)

I tried searching the CDC for more current numbers, but I don’t have that kind of time right now. I did however note a blurb in one of the CDC articles that in 1968, 55% of all injury related deaths were caused by motor-vehicles and firearms. That’s not quite the 60% of all deaths statistic that she quoted.

Also, here’s a couple more statistics for you:

From the CDC, Assault or Homicide (page last updated September 6th, 2011), All homicides are ranked 15th in the cause of death category, which is 6.1 deaths per 100,000 population. Of that 6.1 per 100k, firearms homicides were 4.2 per 100,000.

So, using these numbers, yes, guns are used in crime a lot. However, the amount of firearms related deaths is really a very small percentage of total deaths in America. But, while we’re looking at these numbers, let’s take a look at some other numbers. How about the numbers for areas with very restrictive gun laws (that means there are no guns in law abiding citizens hands, right?)

New York City: from 2003-2011, there were 4,161 homicides. An average of 494 per year. Of those, Firearms are 69%. Granted, I didn’t see what these numbers equal per 100,000, but I know New York is higher than average in homicide rates.

Washington, DC: Of the 132 reported homicides in the District in 2010, firearms were used in 99 of them, or approximately 75 percent. Nationally, firearms were used in 67.5 percent of homicides in 2010, the FBI reported.

I don’t have time to continue this topic right now, but I would recommend checking the facts before you try to make an argument using statistics.
Mark

I have not received a response to that one yet, and I really don’t expect to. But no matter. Once I get the official policy I will be buying an ad in the local paper (I’m open to suggestions for wording the ad). I also plan on buying an ad every week for the month leading up to the fair, but we’ll see how finances work out then. Worst case, I’ll make a sign and stand out next to the road during the fair. Something along the lines of “Warning, you are entering a no self-defense zone”. I’ve got some time to think about what my sign should read (I’m open to suggestions there too).
I’ll keep everyone posted on this.