Interesting sign on building at Milwaukee Zoo

[vito]

Yesterday I went with family to the Milwaukee County Zoo (a really nice zoo, but expensive admission and parking). On the door to one of the indoor exhibits (the reptiles) was a sign reading that you were prohibited from bringing firearms, concealed or open, into this or other buildings or exhibits at the zoo. I read this to mean that you were NOT prohibited from concealed carry at the outdoor parts of the zoo. This seemed strange to me since if the governing authority did not want concealed carry, why not ban it from the entire zoo instead of limiting the ban to indoor areas? Maybe Wisconsin law limited their authority to ban firearms, I must admit that I am not fully versed on the new concealed carry law in Wisconsin. I was not carrying, so it was only academic to me at the time, but still seemed odd. And I did not notice the sign on other buildings at the zoo but only on this building.

 

[Sam1911]

Very interesting! That's how the National Park system works (ok on the land, not ok in the buildings), but I'd not heard of any states that have adopted the same rules.

 

[Wishoot]

The zoo is completely posted if I remember correctly. You can walk around the grounds with your weapon, but not into any buildings. That means that you can only enter the grounds off of Blue Mound Road (not the main entrance).

BTW.. it is a really nice zoo, but to avoid the astronomical parking cost, just park on one of the side streets off of Blue Mound Road.

 

[vito]

Any idea why the distinction between outdoor parts of the zoo and indoor parts?

 

[rtroha]

Very interesting! That's how the National Park system works (ok on the land, not ok in the buildings), but I'd not heard of any states that have adopted the same rules.

Ohio is the same way. Government buildings are off limits but open areas are not. City hall is off limits but the parking lot is legal. Park buildings (except for shelters and stand alone rest rooms) are off limits but all open areas of parks are legal.

It's just the way the law is worded. It says, " Any building that is a government facility of this state or a political subdivision of this state". Since it doesn't use the word "premises" open areas are legal.

 

[Fremmer]

Unarmed victim zones. Brought to you by your own government.

 

[Willie Sutton]

<Yawn...>

Ignoring a no-carry sign is a $50 fine in Wisconsin (if you are caught, which is unlikely).

It's a nice zoo! Maybe we should have a THR meet and greet there...


Willie (South Milwaukee)


.

 

[vito]

To Wishoot: Thanks for the tip about parking near the Blue Mound entrance to the zoo. Yesterday the wait to get into the main parking lot was about 45 minutes. But I am not sure I would bother avoiding entering through the main building just to avoid technically violating the rules on concealed carry for the minute it would take to walk through the building and out into the zoo proper. After all, concealed means concealed. Whenever I am in Wisconsin, which is fairly often (more Madison than Milwaukee) I people watch, trying to spot someone printing or otherwise obviously carrying. So far I have not seen a single instance in which I was certain the person was carrying. Maybe very, very few folks have a Wisconsin concealed carry permit, or maybe those who do are doing a great job in maintaining concealment.

 

[Wishoot]

To Wishoot: Thanks for the tip about parking near the Blue Mound entrance to the zoo. Yesterday the wait to get into the main parking lot was about 45 minutes. But I am not sure I would bother avoiding entering through the main building just to avoid technically violating the rules on concealed carry for the minute it would take to walk through the building and out into the zoo proper. After all, concealed means concealed. Whenever I am in Wisconsin, which is fairly often (more Madison than Milwaukee) I people watch, trying to spot someone printing or otherwise obviously carrying. So far I have not seen a single instance in which I was certain the person was carrying. Maybe very, very few folks have a Wisconsin concealed carry permit, or maybe those who do are doing a great job in maintaining concealment.

Wisconsinites are just really good at concealing

 

[gspn]

How ironic that you can't bring an Anaconda, Cobra, or Python into the reptile building.