Watercooler Stories

Gun advocates openly carry handguns at zoo

BOISE, Idaho, July 22 (UPI) -- Members of a club advocating open-carry policies for handguns raised eyebrows when they visited a Boise, Idaho, zoo.

About 10 members of OpenCarry.org were allowed into the zoo after front desk staffers determined there were no laws preventing the group from openly carrying their guns inside the zoo, The (Boise) Idaho Statesman reported.

Group members said part of their purpose at the zoo -- besides the usual reason, to see the animals -- was to prove that citizens openly displaying firearms are no different from unarmed patrons.

"Coming to the zoo was something we could do together, like any family would," said group member Carol Schultz, who wore her handgun holster clipped to her heart-studded belt.

Some other zoo patrons, however, said the guns made them uncomfortable.

"Legal and appropriate are two different things," zoo patron Alex Lundgren said.

Teacher brought gun to school, is cleared

SANFORD, Fla., July 22 (UPI) -- Prosecutors have dropped charges against a Sanford, Fla., teacher who was arrested for bringing a gun onto school property.

Michelle McGhee, 56, admitted the snub-nosed .38-caliber revolver was hers after a Heathrow Elementary School secretary found the item and McGee's cell phone near the school's bus ramp, The Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel reported.

McGhee's lawyer, Robert Fisher, said his client has a concealed weapons permit and had brought the gun along with her to work inadvertently. He said she had left the weapon near her school items the night before the incident and accidentally grabbed the gun along with the other stuff when she left the next morning.

Fisher said the gun and cell phone had apparently fallen off McGee's cart as she was taking her teaching items inside.

"Looked like clearly it was an accident," said Fisher. "She's not a danger to anybody."

Prosecutors dropped charges of possessing a firearm on school property and culpable negligence, both misdemeanors, before the trial was set to begin Monday.

McGhee, who has been teaching for 25 years, was suspended by The Seminole County School Board after her arrest.

Co-op board threatens to remove man's flag

NEW YORK, July 22 (UPI) -- A New York man said it's unfair his apartment's co-op board told him to remove an American flag he hung on his door after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Vincent Romano, who works with the Legal Aid Society and has lived in his apartment since 1992, promised to leave the 1-foot magnetic flag on his door until Osama bin Laden was no longer living, The New York Post reported.

"I work for an organization that fights for the rights of other people, and I have a right to declare my own," he told the Post.

Members of his apartment's co-op board said if Romano refuses to remove the flag, they will take it down themselves.

Romano said he started getting hassled about the flag after the co-op put fresh paint on the doors. He said a general letter was sent to tenants warning that hanging items on doors could ruin the paint.

Woman sues over monkey bans

SPRINGFIELD, Mo., July 22 (UPI) -- A Springfield, Mo., woman is suing county health officials, Wal-Mart and Cox Health Systems for refusing to accept her monkey as a service animal.

Debby Rose said in her suit, which seeks unspecified damages, that her 10-year-old bonnet macaque, Richard, has been banned from food establishments and booted from Wal-Mart due to the Springfield-Greene County Health Department's ruling that Richard does not qualify as a service animal, the Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader reported.

However, Rose claims she needs the monkey to control her social anxiety disorder, which she said can lead to debilitating panic attacks in public places.

Director of Health Kevin Gipson said in the 2006 ruling that Richard does not qualify as a service animal because he does not perform a physical function for Rose. He said the department had received numerous complaints about the primate from area businesses and customers.

The suit names Cox Health Systems as a defendant, claiming Rose was booted from a nursing class for bringing Richard with her.

The filing claims Rose "has been denied access to medical treatment and the ability to visit relatives who are seeking medical treatment," when Richard accompanies her.