DALLAS — Visitors to the Houston Zoo can now pack a little something extra.
The nearly century-old institution has lifted its longtime firearms ban amid a broader push by gun-rights advocates who are pressuring zoos in Texas and elsewhere to do the same.
Gun-rights supporters say publicly owned zoos have misinterpreted laws and are illegally posting signs that ban firearms.
Some zoos have countered calls for policy changes by claiming they are considered amusement parks, day cares or educational institutions — venues that legally can enforce gun bans in many states.
Zoos across the country — from Milwaukee to Omaha — do not allow guns on the premises.
An advocacy group in Texas is singling out zoos under a newly enacted state law allowing complaints about unlawful gun restrictions to be forwarded to the state’s attorney general for potential steep fines.
Similar efforts have occurred elsewhere.
“I am not anti-zoo,” said Edwin Walker with Texas Law Shield, the group that recently filed complaints against the Houston and Dallas zoos. “I guarantee there’s not going to be a license-holder that’s going to go to the zoo and shoot a baby giraffe in front of schoolchildren.”
