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I might be going to Johnson Space Center this week for the tour and need to know if I can have a pistol in my car in parking lot. Their website FAQ says " not permitted in the facility" but doesn't say entire premises. It looks to be owned by a non-profit.

I don't want to be on the wrong side of a fed.

Thanks!

If it's owned by a non profit, I would think you would be fine with it in your car. If they don't have signs, you should be fine to carry inside, website notwithstanding. If it were federal government owned, it certainly couldn't be considered not-for-profit (humor).

LucasMcCain wrote:If it's owned by a non profit, I would think you would be fine with it in your car. If they don't have signs, you should be fine to carry inside, website notwithstanding. If it were federal government owned, it certainly couldn't be considered not-for-profit (humor).

There have been some threads that state that it is Federally owned. http://www.texaschlforum.com/viewtopic. ... n#p1034656
I have read that Space Center Houston is run by the Disney Corp.

IANAL so I won't advise one way or another, but I did not take a firearm the last time I visited.

Are we sure some lefty won't try to portray the space center as an amusement park? They may consider the shuttle to be a "ride".

If it fails to be an amusement park, they may go the route of the fort worth zoo and claim they are an educational facility.

Sorry, had to make the jokes.

I do believe that the entry center (museum, gift shop, etc) are not federal. I think you should be able to leave in your car. I know that the building is properly posted, and I know that once we got in the trolley to ride into the actual Johnson Space Center, they told us we were entering the federal property.

Before my last visit, I did not know much of that above, so I handled it differently. I recommend this method if you're feeling a bit unsure as to what to do (but still don't want to make the full trip unarmed): /viewtopic.php?f=10&t=73883

Flightmare wrote:Are we sure some lefty won't try to portray the space center as an amusement park? They may consider the shuttle to be a "ride".

If it fails to be an amusement park, they may go the route of the fort worth zoo and claim they are an educational facility.

Sorry, had to make the jokes.

I appreciate your sense of humor, but it really irks me that the space center is becoming more of an amusement park rather than a place to educate people about space exploration.

I was really disappointed the first time when I saw a Star Wars display and they added a McDonald's type play house near the main entrance.

WildBill wrote:

LucasMcCain wrote:If it's owned by a non profit, I would think you would be fine with it in your car. If they don't have signs, you should be fine to carry inside, website notwithstanding. If it were federal government owned, it certainly couldn't be considered not-for-profit (humor).

There have been some threads that state that it is Federally owned. http://www.texaschlforum.com/viewtopic. ... n#p1034656
I have read that Space Center Houston is run by the Disney Corp.

IANAL so I won't advise one way or another, but I did not take a firearm the last time I visited.

I tried searching and found nothing. Thanks for the link to the other thread. I actually remember reading that one back in December but for the life of me couldn't find it today.

This is the quote from their webpage.

Space Center Houston is owned and operated by the nonprofit Manned Space Flight Education Foundation with extensive education programs, a museum of space artifacts and exhibits, space attractions and your gateway to tour NASA Johnson Space Center.

Weapons: Weapons are not permitted in the facility. These include, but are not limited to, guns and other firearms, stun guns, pepper spray and other chemical irritants, explosives and pocket knives or pen knives with blades longer than 4 inches and/or with locking blades. Any item that is in violation of state or federal statues is not permitted.

MustangGlocker wrote:

WildBill wrote:

LucasMcCain wrote:If it's owned by a non profit, I would think you would be fine with it in your car. If they don't have signs, you should be fine to carry inside, website notwithstanding. If it were federal government owned, it certainly couldn't be considered not-for-profit (humor).

There have been some threads that state that it is Federally owned. http://www.texaschlforum.com/viewtopic. ... n#p1034656
I have read that Space Center Houston is run by the Disney Corp.

IANAL so I won't advise one way or another, but I did not take a firearm the last time I visited.

I tried searching and found nothing. Thanks for the link to the other thread. I actually remember reading that one back in December but for the life of me couldn't find it today.

This is the quote from their webpage.

Space Center Houston is owned and operated by the nonprofit Manned Space Flight Education Foundation with extensive education programs, a museum of space artifacts and exhibits, space attractions and your gateway to tour NASA Johnson Space Center.

Weapons: Weapons are not permitted in the facility. These include, but are not limited to, guns and other firearms, stun guns, pepper spray and other chemical irritants, explosives and pocket knives or pen knives with blades longer than 4 inches and/or with locking blades. Any item that is in violation of state or federal statues is not permitted.

That all sounds like 'carry while driving, and leave it in the car' to me.

Vol Texan wrote:
That all sounds like 'carry while driving, and leave it in the car' to me.

Sounds that way to me too. I'm sure not going to make the whole trip unarmed.

Space Center Houston is on federal property according to tax records, but I have kept my handgun in my personal vehicle. They check bags as you go into the center. Johnson Space Center is also federal property and they have armed security if you go through those gates and have the right to search your vehicle.

Space Center Houston has a 30.06 sign posted outside right of entrance doors. The Johnson Space Center is definitely a no-go being its a federal agency.

Keith B wrote:Space Center Houston is on federal property according to tax records, but I have kept my handgun in my personal vehicle. They check bags as you go into the center. Johnson Space Center is also federal property and they have armed security if you go through those gates and have the right to search your vehicle.

I have always thought that Rice University owned the land and leased it to JSC/NASA for $1 per year, but that is not the case.

Humble Oil donated the land 1,020 acres to Rice University. Rice, in turn sold the land to the US Govt for $20. In addition, they sold a second parcel of 600 acres for $10 ("granted, sold and conveyed").

This link has a short history of the purchase of the land from Rice University and has copies of the deeds for the two parcels of land. http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum34 ... 00123.html

I think this is getting confused because Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NOT Space Center Houston.

JSC is federal. You're not going to carry a gun there. But you're also not going to drive into JSC on a "trip to NASA".

You're actually taking a trip to Space Center Houston.

Space Center Houston is a gateway complex, adjacent to, and independent of, JSC. As a visitor, you drive up to Space Center Houston, leave your gun in the car, and enter the privately owned building that is prominently posted with both 30.06 and 30.07 signs. This building has a great museum, lots of interactive stuff for kids, gift shop, and yes, even a ticket area where you can buy a trip into JSC.

From within Space Center Houston, you will depart to go into JSC. When you leave Space Center Houston to go to JSC on the trolley train, there is a clear demarcation between where one starts, and the other ends.

Yeah, I realize now that I should have titled this Space Center Houston instead of JSC. I apologize for any confusion. This leg of the trip I'm taking was very last minute so I was rushing to get info.

Thanks everyone for all of the info.

Vol Texan wrote:I think this is getting confused because Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NOT Space Center Houston.

JSC is federal. You're not going to carry a gun there. But you're also not going to drive into JSC on a "trip to NASA".

You're actually taking a trip to Space Center Houston.

Space Center Houston is a gateway complex, adjacent to, and independent of, JSC. As a visitor, you drive up to Space Center Houston, leave your gun in the car, and enter the privately owned building that is prominently posted with both 30.06 and 30.07 signs. This building has a great museum, lots of interactive stuff for kids, gift shop, and yes, even a ticket area where you can buy a trip into JSC.

From within Space Center Houston, you will depart to go into JSC. When you leave Space Center Houston to go to JSC on the trolley train, there is a clear demarcation between where one starts, and the other ends.

Space Center Houston actually sits on federal property. However, they tend to follow state laws on leaving your firearm in the vehicle.

I used to attend the balloon festival there every year. We were told we could leave it in the vehicle while on SCH's parking lot, but if we entered JSC's controlled area we must not have it in the truck. We were allowed to travel back and forth on the tram road, so were never checked and didn't go through security, but I didn't ever take it if we were going over to JSC.