A "weapons prohibited" sign has been reinstalled at the Houston Zoo months after being removed at threat of legal action. The Houston Zoo has reinstalled a series of signs that prohibit the carry of firearms into the gates of the family-friendly attraction almost three months after being forced to take them down at threat of legal action.
Attorney Edwin Walker with Texas Law Shield, a legal services firm for gun owners, sent a demand letter to the Houston Zoo and its corporate entity and the city's parks and recreation department on Sept. 3 asking that they take down all 30.06 (guns prohibited) signs at the zoo.
The signs came down just a week or so after the letter was received and read.
After discussing the matter with their attorneys this is what the attonrye's had to say:
In a statement sent to the Houston Chronicle on Tuesday, Houston Zoo spokesperson Jackie Wallace stated the zoo’s case for bringing the signs back.
“After consultation with legal counsel, the Houston Zoo, Inc. has concluded that Texas government code does not prohibit HZI from lawfully posting signs that ban weapons from its premises because HZI is – at its core – an educational institution,” Wallace wrote Tuesday.
The zoo argues that being an educational institution exempts it from being forced to allow firearms within its gates.
Wallace wrote that the zoo was established for educational and conservation purposes, bringing in some 200,000 children a year.
The zoo, Wallace added, “maintains an Education Department that employs 17 professional educators who develop and deliver educational programming on a daily basis at the Zoo.”
“Given the mission of the zoo and the presence of hundreds of thousands of children on its campus, it is clear that guns and zoos simply do not mix,” Wallace wrote.
Isn't it bizarre that such a statement as "guns and zoos simply do not mix" has to be made in this day and age?
Seriously, what is going on in this country?
The only thing that can stop a bad anaconda with a gun is a good anaconda with a gun... but those pesky liberals keep saying that anacondas don't have arms!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, the idea that allowing untrained people to wander around carrying firearms somehow makes us safer is a triumph of marketing over common sense. If these folks want to carry weapons, they should be required to be licensed and demonstrate appropriate safe handling and marksmanship skills (plus fire control skills). Without this, they're more of a danger to everyone else than the criminals are.
And to carry liability insurance sufficient to cover probable injuries, dependent on gun size, range and magazine capacity, just like automobiles are.
DeleteMight be a good idea to mandate a psychological assessment too.....
DeleteYou have to ask what is going on in this country?
ReplyDeleteWhat has always gone on, but now is in the open: angry, entitled white people (with guns) who have failed to achieve the "American Dream" even when they voted in their Congress of "no" -- it failed to impeach that uppity black (and Communist Muslim) Obama -- it failed to do away with government handouts (their Medicare notwithstanding) to lazy poor people -- it failed to stop gay marriage, it failed to stop all abortions -- it failed to bomb, bomb, bomb...
And these white Christianists know they will soon be in the minority and are scared shitless the blacks & "cloth heads" will turn on them and kill them, so they gotta do it first.
What is going one NOW is they have a voice and by God they will vote Trump into office, by hook or by crook, and he can sort out everything and everybody who is Other.
They really believe it is the only way to save America. They will kill to get it back and feel morally superior as they do it.
IMHO.
I agree completely. I just returned from a Thanksgiving gathering where I learned that my sister and her husband bought my nephew an assault rifle for his 16th birthday. What goddam teenager needs an assault rifle fails my comprehension. I've decided for my own safety never to set foot in her home again. I am ashamed to be related to those people.
DeleteWhat's wrong with this country? Absolutely nothing. When someone achieves greatness and lives a decent life, I'm the first to support and congratulate them. Recently my hard work put me in a fantastic position at work, I learned really quick who my friends really are and who's not worth my time nor effort. I'm not bragging, but I'm just saying when the shoe was on the other foot, there wasn't a jealous bone in my body and I meant the congratulations sincerely from the bottom of my heart. How does one exceeding their expectation and reaching the American dream diminish others who had the same opportunities but were lazy and complacent?
ReplyDeleteThank you. Our country is still great, we must not let the negative affect our perceptions.
DeleteUnfortunately, the politicians being controlled by the corporations and ultra-wealthy have created a system where it's nearly impossible for many people to have the opportunity to succeed, regardless of how hard they work.
DeleteYears ago, if people in the lower class got a good education and worked hard, they could expect to move up and achieve that American Dream. Now far too many are stuck in the day-to-day struggle just to put food on the table and a roof over their head. While corporate profits - and worker productivity - have skyrocketed over the past few decades, the real value of the minimum wage has actually decreased.
"Indeed, the value of the minimum wage today is nearly 30 percent below its peak in 1968."
To make matters worse, a college education is rapidly becoming beyond the financial reach of a significant percentage of our population.
While you were fortunate to have opportunities to advance in your job, far too many Americans are denied those same opportunities no matter how hard they work.
http://www.demos.org/publication/state-american-dream-economic-policy-and-future-middle-class
Sanity prevails, dear goddess.
ReplyDeleteOT: A great Thanksgiving entry by William Rivers Pitt.
ReplyDelete"...This from the same crew that wants to database American citizens because they are Muslim. Bring back torture, sure, why not? Blame the refugees from our war for their situation, deny them safety, and then demonize them as terrorists to scrape a few more votes off the bottom of the barrel. ..."
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/33818-thanksgiving-thoughts-on-the-children-of-war
yeah. the zoo was a safe place. simple. now i gotta wonder which Tom, Dick or Harry, Mary or Susan is strapping next to the llamas. bang. boom.
ReplyDelete30.06?
ReplyDeleteThere was a .06 of a sign?