In Colorado, people with concealed-carry permits are allowed to bear arms in most public places. The Denver Museum of Nature and Science lifted a gun ban to comply with state law.

The Denver Museum of Nature and Science took down signs banning guns two months ago. Once again, people with a Colorado concealed carry permit can enter the museum armed.

Despite reports that the decision was made in response to the Paris and San Bernardino terrorist attacks, Ed Scholz, the museum’s vice president of finance and operations, told The Colorado Independent the move had nothing to do with safety, ideology or public pressure from a dozen or so concealed-carry permit activists each year.

Rather, he said, lawyers advised the board that the museum needed to comply with state law which allows permitted people to carry guns in public places, assuming those spaces aren’t equipped with electronic weapons surveillance screening — a safety precaution the museum opts to avoid.

Other Denver institutions including the Zoo, the Art Museum and the Botanic Gardens allow people with permits to conceal guns. Scholz stresses the Museum of Nature and Science is doing nothing but joining its cultural peers in legal compliance.

As to claims that lifting the ban will make things more or less secure, Scholz said: “We’re not making the change because we think it makes us any safer or any less safe. That is simply not the case. We need to be in compliance with the law.”

Photo credit: Luke Jones, Creative Commons, Flickr.