OpenCarry.org members visited Zoo Boise to make a point | News Updates | Idaho Statesman
BY ANNA WEBB - awebb@idahostatesman.com
Edition Date: 07/20/08
When you go to the zoo, you expect to see monkeys, ducks in a pond. You don't usually expect to see visitors with handguns.
But you would have, had you visited Zoo Boise Saturday morning.
About 10 members of the local chapter of OpenCarry.org, a national group that advocates for citizens' rights to openly carry handguns, met there.
After a little confusion at the front desk about whether it's legal to bring an unconcealed handgun into the zoo - it is - the group bought tickets and sauntered through the front gates like all the other visitors.
That they were no different from all the other visitors was the point the group members were trying to make.
"Coming to the zoo was something we could do together, like any family would," said Carol Schultz of Nampa. She is never without her handgun and holds her holster in place with a heart-studded belt.
Schultz has gone through the steps, the training and the background check to qualify for a concealed weapons permit. Though her holster is now an integral part of her wardrobe, she can still imagine an unarmed world.
"In an ideal society, one of peace and people taking control of their own lives, ideally, you wouldn't need a gun," she said.
Unfortunately, said fellow OpenCarry.org member Blaine Tewell, of Eagle, the world is a dangerous place of random shootings in malls, even churches.
The former military man, who's in the process of getting a concealed weapons permit, openly carries for now. He's not a vigilante and has no desire to chase down criminals. He just wants to be safe, he said.
"When seconds count, police are still minutes away," he said.
Neither Schultz nor Tewell has ever had to use a gun in self-defense. They have been asked to leave private property, though, such as restaurants and stores where their guns made people nervous.
Lt. Alan Cavener of the Boise Police Department said reason must play a part in the open carrying of guns.
"We support peoples' constitutional rights, but we also want to ensure public safety. People need to use common sense about where they choose to bring a firearm," Cavener said.
Zoo visitor Laura Greaves, from Salem, Ore., questioned whether it was really necessary for someone besides a staffer working closely with dangerous animals to carry a gun at the zoo - legality aside. Saturday morning, the most ominous threats appeared to be runaway strollers and kids throwing tantrums.
"Legal and appropriate are two different things," said another visitor, Boisean Alex Lundgren.
Anna Webb: 377-6431
BY ANNA WEBB - awebb@idahostatesman.com
Edition Date: 07/20/08
When you go to the zoo, you expect to see monkeys, ducks in a pond. You don't usually expect to see visitors with handguns.
But you would have, had you visited Zoo Boise Saturday morning.
About 10 members of the local chapter of OpenCarry.org, a national group that advocates for citizens' rights to openly carry handguns, met there.
After a little confusion at the front desk about whether it's legal to bring an unconcealed handgun into the zoo - it is - the group bought tickets and sauntered through the front gates like all the other visitors.
That they were no different from all the other visitors was the point the group members were trying to make.
"Coming to the zoo was something we could do together, like any family would," said Carol Schultz of Nampa. She is never without her handgun and holds her holster in place with a heart-studded belt.
Schultz has gone through the steps, the training and the background check to qualify for a concealed weapons permit. Though her holster is now an integral part of her wardrobe, she can still imagine an unarmed world.
"In an ideal society, one of peace and people taking control of their own lives, ideally, you wouldn't need a gun," she said.
Unfortunately, said fellow OpenCarry.org member Blaine Tewell, of Eagle, the world is a dangerous place of random shootings in malls, even churches.
The former military man, who's in the process of getting a concealed weapons permit, openly carries for now. He's not a vigilante and has no desire to chase down criminals. He just wants to be safe, he said.
"When seconds count, police are still minutes away," he said.
Neither Schultz nor Tewell has ever had to use a gun in self-defense. They have been asked to leave private property, though, such as restaurants and stores where their guns made people nervous.
Lt. Alan Cavener of the Boise Police Department said reason must play a part in the open carrying of guns.
"We support peoples' constitutional rights, but we also want to ensure public safety. People need to use common sense about where they choose to bring a firearm," Cavener said.
Zoo visitor Laura Greaves, from Salem, Ore., questioned whether it was really necessary for someone besides a staffer working closely with dangerous animals to carry a gun at the zoo - legality aside. Saturday morning, the most ominous threats appeared to be runaway strollers and kids throwing tantrums.
"Legal and appropriate are two different things," said another visitor, Boisean Alex Lundgren.
Anna Webb: 377-6431
All it takes is $$$. 
