Keep your guns home, zoo visitors

The Fort Worth Zoo wants to stay gun-free, and has every right to.

When Texas geared up for licensed open-carry of handguns earlier this year, many locations sought exemptions.

The Fort Worth Zoo was among them. It was designated a Texas Department of Family and Protective Services day-care facility, earning an exemption. But activists complain that the zoo is on public land and should allow licensees to carry.

The Texas attorney general upheld the zoo’s exemption in a nonbinding opinion, ruling that although the city does own the land, the zoo is managed under contract with the nonprofit, privately owned Fort Worth Zoological Association.

Either as a day-care center or as a private facility, the park can restrict guns.

Some critics want to revise the language when the Legislature meets in January. Others want to take the more worrisome approach of testing whether the policy is enforceable.

Like it or not, the zoo is within its rights under the law.

Don’t take the risk. Leave your gun behind.

This story was originally published December 12, 2016 at 6:27 PM with the headline "Keep your guns home, zoo visitors."