We’ve heard your concerns about safety, and we are taking a number of measures to make the con as safe and as family-friendly as possible.
We’re following in the footsteps of other cons such as Florida Supercon, Baltimore Comic Con and New York Comic Con and amending DPCC’s cosplay prop-weapons policy for 2017. You can find the full cosplay and prop-weapons policy here. The focus of the policy change is that no realistic firearms of any kind, regardless of material (metal, plastic, rubber, resin, wood, etc..) will be permitted.
We understand (and sympathize—we geek out on Deadpool and the Punisher, too) that this will impact some popular costumes.
We can hear your first question already: will this really make anyone safer? We believe it will. This change in policy will make the jobs of police and our private security officers easier—any realistic weapon will be identified as a potential threat—and as a result, make you safer. The change in policy isn’t because we think our cosplayers are prone to violence, it’s because a hall full of prop firearms makes it difficult to discern threats from targets in the event of an actual shooting.
We’re letting you know as early as possible for a couple of reasons: so there is no confusion about what you’re purchasing when tickets go on sale, and so you don’t get too far down the road of a cosplay decision that you feel relies too heavily on firearm props. Other props, such as bats, swords, hammers and shields made from foam or plastic are still encouraged provided they fall within the existing polices.
We know props are fun, but we feel that these changes are a necessary step.
Thank you in advance for understanding.
If you have any cosplay related questions, please feel free to email cosplay@popcultureclassroom.org.