The Houston Zoo has been forced to remove ‘no gun’ signs that gun carry activists say are illegal under Texas law.
The move comes after Texas passed a law allowing average citizens to file complaints over illegal ‘no guns’ signs which would impose a $1,000 per day fine on localities in violation of the law. The law went into effect on September 1st, 2015 and the City of Houston requested that the Houston Zoo remove their no guns signs on September 10th, 2015. The Zoo said it was reviewing the legal implications of the city's request but would comply with it in the meantime.
"On Sept. 10, 2015, the City of Houston asked our zoo to remove our 30.06 signage which bans guns from the zoo," the zoo told KHOU. "This is because the land in which the zoo is operated independently on is, in fact, city-owned. While the zoo is currently investigating the legal implications of this request as it relates to the new and evolving law, we have complied with the city's request and have removed our 30.06 signs from the entrances."
The zoo said it would no longer try to stop those with valid gun carry licenses from carrying on their property. "Effective immediately, the Houston Zoo will not ask anyone who is lawfully permitted to carry a concealed legal hand-gun [sic] to stow their weapon in their vehicle while visiting the zoo," the zoo said to the news station. "We do recognize that this has the potential to confuse or concern our guests and members and we want to emphasize that this will not alter our number-one priority, which is the safety of our guests, employees, and animals."