Judge blocks attempt to carry handgun at Saint Louis Zoo

A St. Louis judge has blocked an Ohio man from carrying a gun into the Saint Louis Zoo to test a state ban on weapons in certain educational and child care facilities and amusement parks.

Jeffry Smith had been planning to bring a handgun into the Zoo on Saturday. He said Friday that he would respect the order handed down by Circuit Judge Joan Moriarty and instead carry in an empty holster. Smith was the organizer of an October 2014 open carry walk in downtown St. Louis.

The Zoo successfully argued that it would be "immediately and irreparably harmed" if the protest was allowed to forward. Attorneys for the Zoo noted in their request for the restraining order that parents had already called threatening to pull their children from programs if guns were allowed on the Zoo's campus.

Moriarty has scheduled a hearing on the Zoo's request for a longer-term restraining order for June 22.

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