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?
