Gun rights advocates, unaccustomed to court defeats, were handed two setbacks late last month when a St. Louis Circuit Court judge and the U.S. Supreme Court both upheld limits on when and where guns may be carried in public. St. Louis Judge Joan Moriarty declared the St. Louis Zoo fits Missouri laws definition of a

, and the high court declined to hear a challenge to a California law that bans carrying guns openly in most situations. The 90-acre St. Louis Zoo campus has on-site preschool and childrens education programs. Nearly half a million students participate in the programs annually. About 3 million families and visitors come to see exhibits involving nearly 20,000 animals. In that family-friendly environment, guns are the last thing the zoo needs. Cincinnati gun rights activist Jeffry Smith announced plans in 2015 to lead a group of open-carry activists into the zoo to challenge its self-declared status as a gun-free zone. A temporary order blocked Smith, so he strapped on an empty holster to walk the grounds. Moriartys June 23 order now makes the zoo ban permanent. Parents strolling with their kids should not have to be constantly on the lookout for gun carriers looking to make a political point with a menacing display of holstered sidearms. The gun owner might think it enhances safety, but everyone else feels terrorized doubly so if an actual armed altercation develops. Friendly fire bullets are as deadly as those from an assailants gun. Visitors carrying guns, Moriarty ruled, would significantly harm the level of visitorship, as well as the mission, the public image and autonomy of the zoo as an institution. The

that was under challenge allows members of the public to carry concealed guns in public only if applicants can demonstrate good cause for needing to carry the weapon. Challengers said authorities in San Diego and Yolo County interpreted good cause so narrowly as to make it impossible to carry guns in public for self-defense. The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that there is no Second Amendment right to carry a concealed weapon but did not decide whether states have a right to ban openly carrying guns. Supreme Court justices did not explain why they

the challenge, allowing the lower court ruling to stand. Although the National Rifle Association maintains that the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun, public security is best left in the hands of trained professionals, not gun-toting bystanders. The possibility for tragic mishaps only grows when police have trouble distinguishing licensed gun owners from criminals. The NRA stokes fear to fight limits on open gun carry, but in these two rulings, common sense prevailed.

Gun rights advocates, unaccustomed to court defeats, were handed two setbacks late last month when a St. Louis Circuit Court judge and the U.S. Supreme Court both upheld limits on when and where guns may be carried in public. St. Louis Judge Joan Moriarty declared the St. Louis Zoo fits Missouri laws definition of a

gun-free zone, and the high court declined to hear a challenge to a California law that bans carrying guns openly in most situations. The 90-acre St. Louis Zoo campus has on-site preschool and childrens education programs. Nearly half a million students participate in the programs annually. About 3 million families and visitors come to see exhibits involving nearly 20,000 animals. In that family-friendly environment, guns are the last thing the zoo needs. Cincinnati gun rights activist Jeffry Smith announced plans in 2015 to lead a group of open-carry activists into the zoo to challenge its self-declared status as a gun-free zone. A temporary order blocked Smith, so he strapped on an empty holster to walk the grounds. Moriartys June 23 order now makes the zoo ban permanent. Parents strolling with their kids should not have to be constantly on the lookout for gun carriers looking to make a political point with a menacing display of holstered sidearms. The gun owner might think it enhances safety, but everyone else feels terrorized doubly so if an actual armed altercation develops. Friendly fire bullets are as deadly as those from an assailants gun. Visitors carrying guns, Moriarty ruled, would significantly harm the level of visitorship, as well as the mission, the public image and autonomy of the zoo as an institution. The

California lawthat was under challenge allows members of the public to carry concealed guns in public only if applicants can demonstrate good cause for needing to carry the weapon. Challengers said authorities in San Diego and Yolo County interpreted good cause so narrowly as to make it impossible to carry guns in public for self-defense. The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that there is no Second Amendment right to carry a concealed weapon but did not decide whether states have a right to ban openly carrying guns. Supreme Court justices did not explain why they

refused to hearthe challenge, allowing the lower court ruling to stand. Although the National Rifle Association maintains that the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun, public security is best left in the hands of trained professionals, not gun-toting bystanders. The possibility for tragic mishaps only grows when police have trouble distinguishing licensed gun owners from criminals. The NRA stokes fear to fight limits on open gun carry, but in these two rulings, common sense prevailed.

Gun rights advocates, unaccustomed to court defeats, were handed two setbacks late last month when a St. Louis Circuit Court judge and the U.S. Supreme Court both upheld limits on when and where guns may be carried in public. St. Louis Judge Joan Moriarty declared the St. Louis Zoo fits Missouri laws definition of a gun-free zone, and the high court declined to hear a challenge to a California law that bans carrying guns openly in most situations.

The 90-acre St. Louis Zoo campus has on-site preschool and childrens education programs. Nearly half a million students participate in the programs annually. About 3 million families and visitors come to see exhibits involving 20,000 animals. In that family-friendly environment, guns are the last thing the zoo needs.

Cincinnati gun rights activist Jeffry Smith announced plans in 2015 to lead a group of open-carry activists into the zoo to challenge its self-declared status as a gun-free zone. A temporary order blocked Smith, so he strapped on an empty holster to walk the grounds. Moriartys June 23 order now makes the zoo ban permanent.

Parents strolling with their kids should not have to be constantly on the lookout for gun carriers looking to make a political point with a menacing display of holstered sidearms. The gun owner might think it enhances safety, but everyone else feels terrorized doubly so if an actual armed altercation develops. Friendly fire bullets are as deadly as those from an assailants gun.

Visitors carrying guns, Moriarty ruled, would significantly harm the level of visitorship, as well as the mission, the public image and autonomy of the zoo as an institution.

The California law that was under challenge allows members of the public to carry concealed guns in public only if applicants can demonstrate good cause for needing to carry the weapon. Challengers said authorities in San Diego and Yolo County interpreted good cause so narrowly as to make it impossible to carry guns in public for self-defense.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that there is no Second Amendment right to carry a concealed weapon but did not decide whether states have a right to ban openly carrying guns. Supreme Court justices did not explain why they refused to hear the challenge, allowing the lower court ruling to stand.

Although the National Rifle Association maintains that the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun, public security is best left in the hands of trained professionals, not gun-toting bystanders. The possibility for tragic mishaps only grows when police have trouble distinguishing

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Editorial: Courts uphold common-sense limits to Second Amendments rights. - STLtoday.com