Do people carry guns in zoos in the USA?
- Thread starter TinoPup
- Start date
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Could this be driven by fears of animals escaping ?
No, it's either a strong belief in the Second Amendment (right to bear arms) and with some it's good old fashioned paranoia.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
There have been some big cat escapes in US zoos though where members of the public have ended up being killed.
Tiger escapes enclosure at San Francisco Zoo, killing 1
Not that a handgun (unless a magnum) would be a very effective caliber of weapon to use against a charging tiger anyway.
There have but it's extremely rare. If that happened when I went to a zoo I'd buy a lottery ticket as soon as I left.There have been some big cat escapes in US zoos though where members of the public have ended up being killed.
Tiger escapes enclosure at San Francisco Zoo, killing 1
Not that a handgun (unless a magnum) would be a very effective caliber of weapon to use against a charging tiger anyway.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Yes, I know they are very rare incidents but perhaps despite these seldom happening the media coverage when they do gets so overblown that it makes people have exagerated fears about their own safety ?
Zooplantman
Well-Known Member
You are being very generous.
The incident you cite was a rare example where institutional sloppiness met visitor idiocy.It was not typical.There have been some big cat escapes in US zoos though where members of the public have ended up being killed.
Tiger escapes enclosure at San Francisco Zoo, killing 1
Not that a handgun (unless a magnum) would be a very effective caliber of weapon to use against a charging tiger anyway.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Good point !
You are being very generous.
The incident you cite was a rare example where institutional sloppiness met visitor idiocy.It was not typical.
Lol, yes probably I am.
Unfortunate incident for sure but as you say it wasn't typical.
Unless zoos install metal detectors at the entrance, Americans will always carry concealed weapons into zoos (regardless of policy). To the best of my knowledge there have been no mass shootings in a zoo, so statistically it may not be a concern. The only individual killing I recall happening on zoo grounds was reported on ZooChat a few years ago and if I remember correctly it was in the parking lot of Alaska Zoo?
Sadly other places in America, even workplaces, are not safe. As I type this there is a report of yet another mass shooting with at least eight dead, this time at a FedEx workplace in Indianapolis.
What we know about the Indianapolis shooting: 8 dead at FedEx facility; suspected gunman dead (msn.com)
Sadly other places in America, even workplaces, are not safe. As I type this there is a report of yet another mass shooting with at least eight dead, this time at a FedEx workplace in Indianapolis.
What we know about the Indianapolis shooting: 8 dead at FedEx facility; suspected gunman dead (msn.com)
Bib Fortuna
Well-Known Member
You can say what you want about the gun laws in the USA, but one thing is for sure-the USA is the safest country in the world as long as 5 year old children are handcuffed there. Avert the beginnings...
Inspired by this thread I have checked published rules for visitors of some Czech zoos. While Prague, Pilsen, Zlin, Ostrava and Chomutov prohibit public to bring in all kinds of guns, Usti zoo for example prohibits only usage (shooting) of guns within its areal. Dvur Kralove, Brno, Liberec, Decin and Tabor seem to have no regulation of guns.
Czech republic has laws somewhat similar to parts of the US. People must sit for handgun licence exam, but in reality +99% of people who ask will get it granted. Concealed carry is normal. I have already got surprised a few times with my colleague or former boss who rummaged in their bag or drawer to find something I needed, and just took out a handgun that was in the way. I had no idea, people don´t flaunt them.
Czech republic has laws somewhat similar to parts of the US. People must sit for handgun licence exam, but in reality +99% of people who ask will get it granted. Concealed carry is normal. I have already got surprised a few times with my colleague or former boss who rummaged in their bag or drawer to find something I needed, and just took out a handgun that was in the way. I had no idea, people don´t flaunt them.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
I had no idea that there was even that kind of gun culture in the Czech Republic, that really comes as a suprise to me.
Onychorhynchus coronatus
Well-Known Member
Sadly I think it will only be a matter of time before one of these massacres happens within a zoo.
I really don't think so. A zoo just seems like such an odd spot to target - there are so many "better" places for a mass shooter to try. I honestly do not expect a mass shooting to ever take place in a zoo, though you never know, I guess.
I agree with you here. The vast majority of mass shootings happen at a small amount of high traffic places: religious places of worship, schools, night clubs, bars, supermarkets, etc. I'm not aware of a shooting at any recreation type venue (zoo, theme park, national park, etc.). I could be proven wrong (I hope not), but I don't see any real motivation for someone targeting a zoo for a mass shooting.
One reason I think zoos and aquariums (and museums and theme parks) will not see mass shootings is that they have ticket gates and paid admission. The places where shootings happen are places an unbalanced person can just walk in and start shooting. (An exception of course is Smithsonian National Zoo but let's hope an incident never occurs there).
Paid entry didn't stop any of the nightclub or concert shootings (or bombing).
Ok but people don’t typically gather in zoos like they do in nightclubs or at concerts. And there typically any private lookouts that can allow people to shoot into zoos like hotels (Las Vegas concert shooting). Also keep in mind in the big nightclub shooting the cloud didn’t require admission and at the Las Vegas concert shooting the person was in a hotel.
I was responding to the point about admission.
Hotels aren't exactly free.
Plenty of people gather in zoos, especially for events (like the in-house concerts some zoos do).
Maybe it's different on the west coast, but around here, there are many zoos where someone could be looking over a zoo from higher up, including most city zoos.
This is a pointless debate. Shootings happen everywhere. There is no public place where USians are absolutely safe from a mass shooting. They happen at schools, malls, grocery stores, post offices, parks, and everywhere else. They happen in free places, places with paid entry, places where you need a company ID to get in.